Zorn The Avenger
by ConGie
Summary: Zorn was only a boy of ten when it happened, but the memories never faded, and his hatred only grew. With the sages help, he will save those like him, and have his vengeance.
1. Chapter 1

Rain fell like icicles through the night sky as he ran through the streets of Castle Town and lightning snaked it's way through the sky, shortly followed by a crack. The voices chasing him were blocked out for a time, though they returned all the same, all yelling: "Kill him! Kill the mutation! Kill the half - breed!"

It had been a night like any other, in the beginning. But like all good things, it wasn't meant to last. Him and his father had just sat down to the dinner their maid had just finished. Steam gently licked upwards from the potatoes and gravy covered beef that waited before him.

The smells all but overwhelmed him. Their maid brought over a highly sought after drink in Hyrule Castle Town. Most nobles paid thousands of rupees for such a delightful fruit drink, though his father found a cave chalked full of the plant years back up on a cliff.

To this day his father hadn't shown him the location, but in a few days he would take young Zorn out to the secret spot as a birth-day present. His father had told him that the cave was where he proposed to his mother, nine years ago. He had wanted to go last year, but his father had said: "When you're ten son". Now that it was only a few days away, happiness nearly engulfed the young youth.

The landing of the cup on the table brought Zorn back to reality with a start. He jumped in his chair slightly then realized it was just his drink.

"Are you alright?" asked the maid. She was a young Zora, from a most peculiar place in Hyrule. This Zora had lived in Death Mountain for the first sixteen years of her life. For whatever reason, she had ventured to Lake Hylia and found the town she now served in.

For the next eleven years, she served in the home the Haplen family. Happily tending to their every need. Over Zorn's life time, she had become very much like the mother he never had. Treating him with the utmost care, him likewise.

"I'm fine; Thank you for asking, Clair." He said with a smile. The maid smiled politely back at him and went off to fetch herself some food of here own.

"Could you bring me some water on the way back, and a my matches please? The candle needs to be re-lit." Asked Mr. Haplen.

"Sure thing, I'll be but a moment." With that said, the maid left the room.

Mr. Haplen was a providing, kind father, unlike many other fathers in castle town. He never came home drunk, or screamed at Zorn when he did something wrong. He was a content man, always happy with whatever life threw at him.

Like last year, around Christmas time. There was only enough rupees for dinner. We were flat broke thanks to the King's recent change in taxes. The taxes were increased for the Hylian wars, even though the bastard's coffers were well over full.

Even though all was wrong in the world, he was happy. We had a great dinner that night along with pleasant stories by our fireplace. Our maid told us about the many wonders she saw in her journey here, she also told us of her home.

Many exciting things there. Gorons, The Volcano, the hot spring. Her journey here was treacherous, full of danger and death. Without the Goron's training, there would have been no way for her to survive. My father made her skip the graphic parts, though the story was unhindered by this.

Clair came back into the room with a glass and a small box of matches. "here you are." She said, handing him the items in her hands. He quickly re-lit the stray candle and sat back down. He then took a large gulp of his water, and stuck the matches back in his pocket. "You may go get your dinner now Clair."

The maid exited the room and returned moments later with a steaming plate of food. She set the food on the table then gently sat down.

"Let us say grace." started Mr. Haplen started.

(Insert whatever prayer you pray before each meal here. If you do not pray, that's fine. Just pretend you never read the grace part.)

Zorn immediately started on his, practically breathing in his food. His drink complimented the food very nicely, not only lubricating his throat, but increasing the pleasure the food brought his empty stomach.

"Do you like the food, honey?" Clair asked.

"Yes ma'am, it is very delightful. Thank you very much!" He exclaimed with a mouthful of food.

She immediately started laughing at the youth's muffled words. "What's so funny?" The boy asked through his still closed mouth.

"She is laughing for obvious reasons, son." Zorn sat there for a few moments, thinking over 'the obvious'. He realized what was amidst and almost as quickly as Clair, he broke out in laughter.

A loud crash in the front room destroyed the moment. Mr. Haplen stood from his chair while picking up the blade before on the table.

"Daddy?"

"Clair, take him to the cellar." He whispered. Not waiting a moment, she grabbed up the boy and took him down several hallways then into a dark staircase leading downward.

More crashes resounded from above, then all was silent. Clair slowly closed the door, and moved closer to the wall she had left him on. "I want you to stay very quite, and don't move from this spot." she whispered.

She walked closer to the door then opened it a little bit. After she was sure the coast was clear, she left Zorn alone.

The boy could hear the rain outside, begin to fall. Lightning cracked over head, lighting the room. A scream could be heard upstairs followed by heavy foot steps. The foot steps moved closer and closer to the cellar door.

The door suddenly swung open to reveal a cloaked figure. "I found you!" The evil figure almost squealed. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."

The figure held out it's hand. "Where is my daddy, and Clair?" Zorn asked, tears forming in his eyes.

"Mommy and Daddy are upstairs." the figure chuckled. "Are you coming or am I going to have to drag you out of here," He paused, pulling out a rapier. "the fun way?"

The boy walked closer and grabbed the man's clawed hand, afraid of what 'fun' was to this man. "What do you mean mommy?" He asked, now sobbing.

"Ten years and they didn't tell you?" Zorn shook his head. The man cackled. "This day keeps getting better, and better!"

Zorn was led into the living room, where many men were filling the fireplace with wood. His family had a large fireplace, but there was too much stuffed in and left out in front.

"Zorn!" His father growled. "You leave him alone!"

"Do you have any last words Mr. Haplen? How 'bout you? Mrs. Haplen?" The dark figure asked, raising the rapier. The two moved closer to each other, well aware of what was to come, and clamped their mouths shut.

"Maybe I should just tell him for you?" He mocked, giving them a few seconds to say something, but only silence followed. "Fine then. Zorn, your father is a sick man. Eleven years ago, he and Clair got married. Then moved here and had you! Can you believe that! A Man and a Zora!"

Zorn looked at the pair roped on the floor, mouth agape. Tears flowed freely down the duo's cheeks. "We never planned for you to find out until you were ready to leave home." Clair cried.

"... Mom?" Zorn started.

"Oh, enough of this!" The cloaked figure swung at Zorn with his blade, barely missing the poor boy's face by at least half an inch. "Run Zorn! Run!" The two screamed.

Zorn took off at a record speed through the front door and out into the Hylian court-yard. The screams were cut off from behind with a loud crack sound of wood being splintered by metal.

Zorn stopped to look back at the cloaked man running towards him. A bloodied rapier in tow. He didn't dare take another look at his chaser, he just ran, ran faster then anyone he had ever known. Tears ran down his face though the rain hid them. More voices could be heard the farther he ran.

Rain fell like icicles through the night sky as he ran through the streets of Castle Town. Lightning snaked it's way through the sky, shortly followed by a crack. The voices chasing him were blocked out for a time, though they returned all the same, all yelling: " Kill him! Kill the mutation! Kill the half - breed!"

Spears flew past his head and stuck into the ground ahead of him. One spear clipped the right side of his shoulder then spun out of control in front of him.

He lept over the spinning death spike and continued his record speed out into Hyrule East Field **(According to the Wii version of TP)**. Blood now trickled down his arm and onto the ground quickly left behind him.

He took off to the right, running straight for the old ruins he had picnics with... His mother and father... A power not his own suddenly flared up inside him. The wound on his shoulder knitted itself back together and his speed became easier on his legs.

He heard a spear flying in his direction almost as if it were in slow motion. He jumped in the air, spun around, and snatched the death spike swiftly out of the air.

Zorn was quickly closing in on the ruins, his parent's murderer closely followed. He ran down the first flight of stairs then somehow managed to leap to the column on the left side. Several arrows flew past his head, and out into the open field below as Zorn flew towards the railing at high speed through the air. His feet gripped the stone and he spun around to meet many green vines.

He gripped the greenery and swiftly climbed down until he was dangling a good 13 feet off the ground. More than triple his size.

"There he is!" One of the men called out.

Swallowing whatever fear there was, he lept down to the ground, androlled across the grass, his spear stopping him from rolling more than once. Zorn swiftly removed the spear from the ground and resumed running.

A plan formulated in his mind as he ran for the bridge, stone clicked with each running step he took. He was almost home free, then a single arrow flew through the air, past the arch of the bridge, and into the soft tissues of the youth's left calf. He screamed as he rolled across the cold, wet, hard stone, his body sliding to a halt at the halfway mark of the bridge.

Zorn watched as the dark robbed man jumped down the to same level as him, skipping the vines entirely, much to his surprise. The boy tried to get up many times, only succeeding by the time the man was almost on top of him. "You have no where left to run boy, so why even try?"

Zorn didn't listen to the menace, instead, using the spear to pull himself to his feet. "Why don't you just give up? You are going to die weather you like it, or not."

Still not listening to a word the man said, he pulled himself closer to the edge of the bridge. "Oh I see what you're doing, you want to fall to your death rather then let me kill you. If you think you will survive the fall, by all means jump! I don't care how you die, as long as your race is destroyed!"

"If you are so intent on watching me die, help me over." He groaned out, gritting his teeth against the pain in his leg.

"Why would I do that? I want to see you suffer!" The dark figure chuckled.

Zorn was soon sitting upon the stone ledge in front of the figure. "I will give you the same offer as your parents. Any last words?"

"What is your name?"

The man was taken aback momentarily, though recovered quickly. "Kabalstin..."

"I will come for you when I'm older. You and any who follow you."

"That is if you somehow survive!" With that said, Kabalstin flung the boy over by his feat into the icy depths below.


	2. Chapter 2

Zorn could hear the man known as 'Kabalstin' laughing along with the thunder of the night as he fell away from the bridge. The warm feeling that had guided his movements nearly a minute ago faded, bringing back the fear in his mind and it dawned upon him that these could very well be his last moments. Looking around, taking in all of the sights around him, the cliff face, the bridge above, the rain.

The sound of thunder filled his ears once more before the waters of Lake Hylia finally caught up with him, then all he could even think was pain. Although the water was cold, his body was aflame. Zorn tried to scream, but no sound left, only his precious air.

He tried to spin himself around and swim for the surface, but couldn't tell which way to head. Eventually deciding upon a direction, he swam as quickly as he could, praying desperately that he had chosen the correct way to go. His hope died within a few seconds however as the lake's floor came into view.

The fire on his skin began to penetrate his lungs and he knew his life was fading, there was no way he could make it now. Zorn's body screamed at him to breath, to take in life saving air. Fed up with his disobedience, his body took control and sucked in as much water as it could.

The world around him darkened ever more with each convulsion and spasm that wracked it's powerful strikes at him. Before the darkness of death consumed him, his eyes caught a figure swimming towards him. _Too late._ He thought. _You're too late... _

The youth's body stilled it's frightful movements and sunk deeper into the abyss, the figure following it. It grabbed a hold of his small shirt and quickly swam further into the depths. The duo moved into a crater of sorts and past large pillars that led to the Water Temple, but instead of moving into the temple through the hole above, the water jet beneath it calmed itself and revealed a second passage.

The figure swam through the small hole with Zorn in tow. The two moved down a water filled hallway made out of pure white stone, then sharply shot up at the end into open air.

The figure pulled Zorn up onto the small platform by the collar of his shirt and gently lay him upon the stone floor. It leaned over the top of him after pressing down on his chest to remove as much water as possible, then forced it's own breath into his lungs.

The process was repeated several times until finally, the child erupted into a fit of coughs followed by a large amount of water. Zorn's eyes opened ever so slightly as he took a clean breath of air, and he stared up at his savior. Though it was not for long, his eyes slowly closed themselves once again, this time however not for death's lullaby.

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_Zorn's POV_

The pain in my body was unbelievable, it was like having been hit by a yellow chu, or at least, that's what Clair had described it as. It was a pulsing sting that surfaced with my heartbeat, almost as my heart was the actual problem.

I suddenly remembered what had transpired and shot up, bringing on a second pulse of pain that rivaled the first. I screamed out in agony at the new pulse, and decided to lay back down, the second pulse evaporating almost immediately. I felt a webbed hand fall across my forehead and then the sound of a woman's voice. "I know, it's going to hurt for awhile and I'm sorry." The voice said.

"You know, you're very lucky to have lived. That was quite a fall that you took." I moaned in response. The woman's voice giggled and her hand stroked my hair. "I'm surprised that you lived, really. You had an arrow sticking out of your leg, and both lungs filled to the brim with water. Might I ask what exactly happened?"

I kept my eyes shut and tensed them with each pulse, though I still tried to speak. "We... W-were attacked." I stuttered. "By some-one named Kabalstin."

Though my eyes were closed, I could tell from the way her hand twitched that she didn't like what she heard. "Are you talking about the mutant hunter?" I nodded, remembering what the people chasing him had called out.

"So then... For what reason did he come for you? You don't look like a hybrid to me." She asked.

I tried to speak but, it came out too hoarse for recognition. She brought what felt like a small tea cup up to my lips and let me drink, ironically since I had just had a lung full. The pain in my throat that I hadn't been aware of faded and I tried once again to speak.

"My father married a Zora." My voice cracked. "Her name was Clair..." I felt tears beginning to push out on my eyelids at the memory of what had happened last night. "And, that man, killed them both. Then he chased me with a group all shouting for my death." My cheeks were wet after I had finished speaking.

"I'm so sorry... I wish I had been there save them as I did you, but that past is long gone now. I'm afraid that all I can do now is what I can to keep you alive."

I opened my eyes and looked around as best I could. The room was laid in stone and colored a silver blue. Two wooden doors lay in front of, and to the right of me. Also on my right, there was a night stand made out of some kind of sponge like material with a glass of water sitting on top. I moved my head to the left and found the woman that had spoken to me.

To the best of my knowledge she was a Zora around the age of twenty or so. She had deep purple eyes that seemed to penetrate my very soul, reading my every thought. She had elegant fins that flowed freely from her waist down to her knees along with a second identical pair on her forearms.

Unlike Kabalstin's hauntingly sadistic grin, the smile on her face was warm and welcoming. "What's your name?" I asked.

"My name is Ruto, what's yours?"

"My name..." I hesitated. "Is Zorn."

"And how are you feeling, Zorn?"

Surprisingly, by the time I had opened my eyes, all of the pain that had kept me down, had disappeared. "I feel great!"

Her smile widened. "I was hoping you'd say that." She stood up and extended a single hand out for me to grab. Remembering the pain from before, I was hesitant to stand, but took her offer all the same. I was surprised to find that the pulse from earlier didn't surface as it had, but instead, that warm feeling that had saved my life the night before was back.

She led me through the door opposite to the bed that led into a much larger room. The room was almost a perfect square if you counted the bottom of the pool in it's center. Four pillars sat in the pool, their heads coming about two feet above the water's surface, they being shaped like squares as well.

Spikes lined the walls, except for the areas around both the door we had just come from, and the one at the other end of the room. Ruto pulled on my hand as she walked forward towards the water. I stopped when I saw where she was going to keep moving straight for the pool in the center of the room.

"Wait, no..." The water brought fear to me now, I had a hard enough time drinking what she had given me earlier. She had stopped immediately, concern in her eyes. "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

Her eyes sparkled along with the ethereal glow that the room seemed to give off, how could I refuse her lead? She tugged again, along with the warm feeling, and I fell into a mesmerizing stride towards the pool.

Ruto extended one foot forward into the pool, forcing my eyes to shoot open. Instead of her falling in, she set her second foot on top of the water and took a few steps out, slowly pulling me closer to the edge. There was finally too much of a distance between us that I was forced to jump towards her.

I remember her hand letting go of my own, and the water enveloping me in it's tight grasp. Ruto joined me a moment later, almost taunting me with her gills. I tried to swim to the surface, but her hand caught my foot and held me to the bottom.

"_Take a deep breath!"_ I heard in my head. "_Trust me."_

The warmth in my chest grew stronger with each syllable she wove, how is she doing this? My lungs began to burn and she obviously wasn't going to let go until I was dead, so I figured I would just get it over with, it wasn't so bad the first time anyways.

Water flooded into my lungs after that last thought and the pain I had experienced the first time I drowned resurfaced. I gagged and sputtered, throwing up a few times along the way what was in my lungs, but she kept me at the bottom.

Although there was pain, the warmth grew stronger, and soon the pain began to fade away into oblivion. Before I knew it, I was breathing normally. Well, not really breathing, I was sucking in, and forcing out water.

She let go of my ankle with a smile on her face, as if she knew this was going to happen. I was surprised to find that I didn't float upwards like I normally would in water. I guess that makes sense since there isn't any air in my right now.

"_See? That wasn't so bad."_ Her voice spoke in my head. I nodded in agreement, however painful it was. Ruto smiled before swimming in between the two pillars on her left the turning around the one on the right.

I decided to follow her, but it wasn't as easy I had originally thought it was going to be. I spun around many times trying to gain speed. It wasn't that I was a bad swimmer, I just wasn't used to not floating upwards, so my whole balance was changed.

After a good ten minutes of her circling me, I was able to sort of keep up with her speed, not quite though. I watched as she swam towards the edge of the pool, I followed a moment later. She helped me up onto my feet, then a new pain hit me. I threw up all of the water left in my lungs then took a deep breath of air, the oxygen burned. "Is it going to hurt every time?" I asked.

"It shouldn't after a week of switching between sleeping under water and sleeping on land." She lead me out of this room and through several others until we reached a room with a central tower that was filled to the brim with water. "But you see, we don't have a week for that."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I have been charged with training a boy, who's description you match. You will be trained in the way of the Zora until Fifteen years of age. Once that age has been reached, I shall teach you Zoran combat until twenty. You will then be sent to Darunia to build up your body as well as standard and advanced sword combat. Depending on how quickly you learn, you will be passed onto Saria for magical training, the same going for training with me." Ruto finished.

"Wait a minute, you just planned the next fifteen years out for me."

"I didn't, you did. You wanted revenge, right? Well, I'm giving you what you need to take it."

I was surprised to hear such words come out of such a sweet seeming woman's mouth. After hearing her voice in my head I wasn't all that surprised that she had known about me wanting revenge, but what did she mean by 'I have been charged with training you?'

"What did you mean when you said you were charged with training me?" I asked.

She turned to look at me directly, her eyes burning through my defenses. "I am part of a very special group known as The Sages of the Goddesses. We are here to both keep our respective elements in line, as well as keep the land in a state of peace. If we are unable to keep peace, we must find someone to take up arms and fight for it. For many years, we have searched for the boy born of Water and Wind, who would be targeted, and then lost by the Dark Lord. The fact that I was able to commune telepathically with you just further proves what I believe you are; The Savior."

Her words hit me hard. How could I, Zorn, a child born into peace, whom only just tasted sorrow, bring peace to the land. That was what she had chosen me for, right? How could I do something so big?

"I know what you are thinking." Ruto started. "It is big, but you're the only one worthy of such. You have what it takes to rid the world of Kabalstin's evil, as well as the want to. We can show you what to do for when the time comes, you just have to stay true to the path. Can you do that?"

I didn't know what to say, I wanted to kill him, but a part of me told me to just run, as far away as possible. To just run until I was safe from all life. "I don't know..."

"If not for Hyrule, how about for your mother, and father?"

The mention of them, as well as her talking about revenge set off an explosion of anger inside me. That man had taken away my family, my friends, my entire life. All I wanted right now was to see his headed mounted on a wall in a grim display. I could do that, I knew how to prepare such a display.

With that thought guiding my actions, I made my decision in a heartbeat. "If you can teach me how to kill him, I will do as you and your group say."

Her sweet smile returned to her face, though with a hint of sadness. "I know I said do it for them, but try not to think of it that way. Think of how many lives you'll be saving instead, please."

"I know I shouldn't think like this, I just hate him so much, he took everything from me!" I began to cry again for what seemed like the thousandth time.

She leaned down on one knee and wrapped me in her arms "I know, but you mustn't let your anger flow because of it. Anger is what compels him, and I know that inside, you want nothing to do with him."

Once again, Ruto was rubbing my head in a soothing manner, much like my mother used to. It seemed to work because I calmed down after a few minutes, my eyes no longer excreting liquid. "Thank you."

"Your welcome, Zorn." She brought herself out of the embrace. "We have a lot of work to, shall we get started?" I nodded in response, wiping away one last tear.


	3. Chapter 3

**Facebook updates now available, search for ConGie, I should be the only one there. If not, my picture is pretty unique.

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For the next few days Ruto and I mostly swam and ran, she wanted my gills to grow quickly before anything else was to happen, anything serious that is. She explained to me that the pain I felt was the gills trying to open and close, and since the skin had not yet opened, the gills forced the skin to tear. I had taken off my shirt the second day to see what she was talking about, it was an... Interesting thing to watch, however hard to do so while in such pain.

Today was day four since my arrival and things were off to a slow start. I was switching between sleeping in a bed and underwater, but the pain hadn't lessened yet, Ruto said it may take an extra week since I am a half – breed, but it was still something to look forward to.

Ever since I was first in water, I had always wanted to breath in it, and swim for as long as I wanted under it. I just wish my dream hadn't come with such a steep price.

Now I lay in the bed I had awoken to after believing I had drown, ethereal light danced around the room in a calming movement; I hadn't realized it before, but it seemed to move like water. I liked it here, much more then the world outside.

The door to the room slowly opened and revealed Ruto. "Good Morning." She smiled while walking over to the bed and sitting at the edge.

"Good morning." I replied, still a bit of fatigue in my voice.

"Did you sleep well?"

"For the most part, yes, though I haven't had a single dream since I got here. It's as if my body is resting but my mind is continuously working."

She smiled. "This is good, that means your body is growing accustomed to breathing under water, and your brain is constantly working to make sure everything is working right during the growth."

I nodded then took a long stretched and let it out with a sigh before shifting my body out of the bed and my bare, webbed feet onto the floor. The webbing had been part of me for as long as I could remember, but I had thought it was normal for everyone, Ruto had told me otherwise. She stood up along with me and the two of us walked towards the door. "What are we doing today?" I asked.

"Under water staff combat, but only the basics, nothing more then stance really."

The two of us stayed silent until coming upon the room with the one large pillar that occupied the space in the center of the room from top to bottom. She was the first to launch herself into the water and swam to the bottom.

This was the only part I hated, getting in the water, I took a running dive into the water and swam down as far as possible then let out the air in my lungs. I found this to be the best way to do it because I was always tempted to swim back up and take a breath, this way, I was unable to swim back up in time even if I wanted to. I took a deep breath of water and cringed as I felt the thin skin on my ribs tear open with the gills. The skin was growing thinner, but it still hurt every time.

I slowly fell to the floor where Ruto was and she smiled at me. "Before we start combat, I would like you to try and talk under water. It is a bit different then talking with air, and there is a little more effort in both speaking and listening but with practice it is no different."

I had a hard time making out everything she said, but caught the important parts. She was right already, it was hard to listen under water, which means it was probably just as hard if not harder to speak. I opened my mouth and tried to say something, but it wasn't comprehensible.

I tried once again, but the same happened. I decided to try the word, hi, instead of my full sentences. "H~i." It came out sounding awkward but it was audible.

She giggled. "Keep trying."

I smiled at my accomplishment and tried two words. "H~i, Ru~to!"

She giggled again and flicked her fins. "Keep trying, you're getting the hang of it."

We spent the next hour or so talking back and forth like that, me testing different words, her laughing whenever I messed up and then encouraging me. I don't know why, but I liked her, she was different, and really knew how to have fun even though we were working.

Maybe she was the reason I hadn't really cried about my situation since the first day, she reminded me so much of my mom, it was as if she never even died.

Ruto giggled once again, I realized I had stopped talking while I was thinking.

"Lost in thought, are we?"

"No, I just can't decide what to say."

"Hey! You said a sentence without slurring or anything!" She clapped, as best she could while under water.

I grinned and realized I had spoken correctly, it took an hour to do so, but it had happened. She swam up from the floor and motioned for me to follow as she swam towards a hallway that looked to veer off to the left at the end of it.

I swam after her and turned at the end of the hallway to see a rack of staffs, some with sharpened points, others dully rounded at the ends, and some with bladed tips. "I'm afraid you are a bit of a disadvantage since you have only just learned to breath, most Zora children are raised under water for a few years so they have already learned how to cut through the water."

I nodded and watched her grab both a large, and a small rounded staff.

"For you to be able to move correctly in the water, you are going to have to learn to do the same." She passed the smaller staff to me then swam back out into the room with the pillar. I followed of course not far behind her and stopped when the two us were back in the same spot we had been.

Ruto spun around into a sideways stance and raised her staff, placing one hand in the middle and one at the end, leaving the rest of the spear pointed out in front of her. "This is very stable stance for powerful attacks because it is easy to move into a defensive stance should the need arise, and you can quickly strike someone where they would least expect it. Move into the same stance, please."

I did as I was told, standing sideways and placing my hands where hers had looked to be. She swam over I adjusted my stance slightly with a series of taps from her spear until she had me standing the way she wanted.

Ruto swam back over to her spot and moved back into position. "Use your back hand now and push down while using the front one to pull up."

I did as I was told and the rest of the spear swung up as quickly as the water allowed.

"Now swing back down and go back into the stance."

I brought it back down, though no where near fast enough to matter.

"You feel the resistance, right?"

I nodded.

"You need to learn how to flow with the resistance instead of fight it, and if you can't flow with it, then you can't manipulate the flow." She quickly performed exactly as I had, but at a speed the would have been considered fast for even someone on land.

"The spear isn't just a weapon, it is apart of you, it is the extension your arms have longed for, it is you. As you have learned to carve your body through water, you must do the same here. Your wrists are now to become the new shoulders for the spear, understand?"

I hesitantly nodded. "I think so."

"Good, now repeat what you just did until I say to stop."

**(Four hours later)**

My arms ached, my stomach grumbled, and there was a slight tremble in my legs. I was now in the room that was lined with spikes, sitting at the edge of the water with my toes dangling in it. Ruto had gone out fishing awhile back and was now grilling one of the fish over a blue flame.

She said it was a variation of a magic known as Din's Fire, but that didn't make it any less creepy... Now that I had seen a fraction of magic, I wasn't so sure I wanted to go see this Saria girl. "Hey, Ruto?"

"Hmm?" She turned to look at me.

"Can you tell me about the others?"

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"The others in your group."

"Oh! Which one would you like to hear about first?"

I shifted my feet back and forth in the water. "None in particular, but I have been meaning to ask, how did your group come to be?"

"Well," She started. "I can't really tell you and have it make sense unless I tell you the story of a boy named Link. Would you like to hear it?"

I nodded as she brought over a plate full of cooked fish strips. She set the plate down next to me then sat on the other side of the plate, letting her feet dangle in the water as well. "The boy, Link, lived with a bunch of forest children known as the Kokiri when his adventure first began, as well as most of his life. He was left with the guardian of the forest, known as The Great Deku Tree, by his Hylian mother when he was a baby.

The forest children took care of him until he was about seven, then they gave him a house of his own, a tree house to be exact. They all lived in tree houses or stumps left over by previous Deku Tree Saplings that died for one reason or another.

He was made fun of by them for most of his life, except for by a girl named Saria, because the Kokiri Children were given a fairy companion, but a fairy had never chosen Link, until one day The Great Deku Tree sent a fairy named Navi to him.

The fairy brought Link to the Great Deku Tree after he had gathered both a Sword and Shield. The Great Deku Tree told Link that he had been cursed and that he was to break the curse. Link entered the tree and found what he was told was the curse.

It was a Queen Gohma, a big spider like creature that was laying eggs for more Gohma to be born and eat up the Deku Tree. Link killed the Gohma and went back to talk to The Great Deku Tree, but he was too late. The Deku Tree died, but not before he was able to tell Link of a princess named Zelda and give him a magical stone known as the Kokiri's Emerald.

He went to Hyrule Castle and spoke with the princess, she then told him to go the home of the Gorons, Death Mountain. Once there, he was told that the Goron's food supply was short because of an infestation in a cave nearby.

When he got there it was filled with these lizard creatures known as Dodongo. He battled his way through the cave until he found King Dodongo. It wasn't long before he defeated the overly large lizard and went back for what he had originally gone to Death Mountain for.

The Gorons accepted him as one of their own and gave him The Goron's Ruby. He then came to my home, Zora's Domain, but we too were troubled. At the time, I had been swallowed by Jabu-Jabu, a whale as some called it that I was charged with feeding, he hadn't been feeling good lately and must have thought I was food.

The King was worried at the time and would not listen to Link. Luckily, he found the message in a bottle I was able to get out of Jabu-Jabu and showed it to the King. He made Jabu-Jabu swallow him and he came and found me. I was a bit of a snob towards him, making him carry me around.

We lost track of each other later and then he found me once again after fighting something called Barinade, it was what made Jabu-Jabu feel so sick. We exited through the spout after that and swam around for awhile." She smiled, taking a moment of silence as I continued to silently eat.

"I gave him The Zora's Sapphire and then he left, without even saying good bye. I was mad about that at first but I later learned the story I'm telling you now. Anyways, he went back to Hyrule and as he got there, Zelda was leaving, being chased by a man named Ganondorf.

Before Zelda was too far off, she threw something into the moat around Castle Town known as the Ocarina of Time. Ganondorf asked Link where Zelda went, and when Link wouldn't tell him, Ganon struck him down.

After Link had recovered from the blow and Ganon had left, He went to retrieve the ocarina. After that he went into a place known as the Temple of Time. The ocarina then taught him a song after he placed the Spiritual Stones in the pedestals before the Door of Time.

The Door of Time then opened after the song was finished and Link found what is known as The Blade of Evil's Bane, or, The Master Sword. The sword sealed him in the sacred realm for a total of seven years so that he was old enough to wield the blade correctly and use it's powers.

When he was awoken he was met by the Sage of Light, Rauru, and was told what had happened in the time that he was dormant. Link was then told to go to the Forest Temple, where the Sage of Forest rested. Before going there, he went back to the Kokiri Village and found it in ruins.

Angered by what he saw, he hurried to the Forest Temple, killing anything that stood in his way. Once there, he was met by a young Sheikah Warrior whom was oddly named; Sheik, whom taught him a teleportation song so that he could come back to the temple whenever he so pleased.

Sheik then left him to enter the temple, once inside he had to chase the four Poe Sisters until they had all been killed, opening the way to the plague of the temple; Phantom Ganon, A ghost form of Ganondorf.

After he had been defeated, Link met his old friend Saria, who just so happened to be the Sage of Forest. She teleported him to the resting place of the Great Deku Tree after they had spoken and what he found made him literally jump with joy. A new Deku Tree had sprouted and was insured growth thanks to it's placement next to the old one.

He then ventured up to Death Mountain and found that the Gorons were to be fed to a dragon named Volvagia. He quickly climbed up to the top of the mountain and entered The Fire Temple after being taught another song by Sheik.

He met the Chief of the tribe, Darunia, near the entrance of the temple and was told by him to go and save the rest of the tribe that had been caged throughout the temple. After he had battled his way through, freeing all of the Gorons, he went through the door Darunia had gone through to fight Volvagia.

The dragon was no where to be seen and neither was the Chief, until suddenly Volvagia burst through one of the many craters in the ground that were scattered about. Link made quick work of the dragon and found Darunia, whom had been awakened as a sage.

After a short talk, Darunia teleported Link to the bottom of the mountain. He then came back to Zora's Domain to find it had been completely frozen over. The king still sat on his throne, covered in a variation of the magic known as Nayru's Love, while the normal magic is impenetrable and blue, the variation is easily destroyed and is red. It's called red ice, and is melted almost instantly by Blue Fire, which is what I used to cook the fish.

Link continued onwards to where Jabu-Jabu had been to find that he was no longer there, and only a large portion of the water was frozen, not the whole thing. He jumped across the ice and into an Ice Cavern.

He fought his was through, finding many Blue Fire Fountains which produced the magic. He filled several bottles with it and continued through cavern, only using what little Blue Fire he had to melt the Red Ice when necessary.

At the end of the Cave, he met Sheik once again, who taught him a song that could take him to Lake Hylia. Before he left he looked through floor he stood upon and saw all of Zora population was frozen underneath his feet. He tried everything to melt the ice but nothing seemed to work so he went back to the King and released him.

The King gave him a tunic that allows for him to breath under water and then told Link to go to the Water Temple, which by the way, is where you are now, and save his daughter."

I looked up at her with a mouthful of the last strip of grilled fish. "I'm in the Water Temple?"

She giggled. "Yes you are." Ruto looked down at the plate and sighed. "Guess I'll have to make more." She picked up the plate and quickly retrieved a second fish from the water in front of us, then resurfaced and began to gut the fish on the plate with a small knife.

"Would you like me to continue?" She asked to which I nodded.

"Okay, let's see... Oh yes, Link played the song Sheik had taught him and found himself on an island in the middle of the lake, or at least, what was left of it. Most of the lake had dried up and only enough water was left to guard the entrance to this temple.

It was no problem for Link obviously since he was able to breath under water with the tunic. He was soon in the temple and working his way through it's hallways when he found me."

I quickly shot up and stared at her. "You're a princess?"

She smiled and rolled her eyes, laughing all the while. "Yes, I am"

"W-Why aren't you in a palace? Why are you here?" I asked quickly.

"I'll tell you if you let me finish the story." She said while moving over to a small grill and placing the fish on it's surface.

I sat back down. "Okay."

"As I was saying, I told him to follow me so the two of us could fight the temple together, but I was captured not twenty seconds after we met up by the curse of the temple, whom actually resided in this room. Link fought his way through this temple slower then the others thanks to the many decisions that had to be made with the keys and doors.

And on top of that, Ganondorf also put a very unique enemy for Link to fight here. In another room, there is silver water surrounding a sole tree in the center of the room. After you enter though, the walls disappear to reveal an endless expanse.

Link had to fight his dark side in that room, a dark side that knew every move, every technique, every thought, he knew everything that Link knew and was able to counter any strike dealt. But, the Dark Link was unable to use magic so all Link had to do was blast him with blast after blast of Din's Fire until his dark self was defeated.

He battled his way through the rest of the temple for a special key that lets him enter the room we are in now. The pool of water before was the monster's body at one time, but don't worry, Morpha was only an eye ball with the magical ability to control water.

Link then found me as I was awakened as The Sage of Water." She finished while bringing over more fish, this time keeping the plate on her lap. She took a strip and quickly swallowed it then continued. "After that, he went to Kakariko and did a little bit of time traveling but before he went, Sheik taught him the song that teleports him to the Shadow Temple. I'm not exactly sure what he did in the past, but when he got back he entered the Shadow Temple." Ruto quickly shoved several more strips into her mouth and swallowed.

"He wasn't there long though, he said he hated that place so much that he worked harder to finish what he came to do. So after a small amount of time, he found his way to Bongo-Bongo's chamber and defeated him. Link told me the fight had taken longer then the temple itself if that helps you figure out how quickly he moved through it.

After he had awakened The Sage of Shadow, Impa, a Sheikah Warrior, he went to the Gerudo Desert. I don't remember how he earned the trust of the Gerudo Woman, nor do I really want to with the way that sounded... But he did and they allowed him passage into not only their camp but the rest of the desert and The Spirit Temple.

He met Sheik at the Spirit Temple and she taught him the song that he needed to teleport there like all the other times. Link wasn't able to access the temple at his current height so he went back in time and ventured through the first half of the temple in a child's body.

After he had opened up enough of the temple as a child, he came back as an adult and completed the rest of it. Before he was able to fight Koume and Kotake though, he had to fight something known as the Iron Knuckle.

Link defeated the Iron Knuckle with not too much difficulty and when the armor it wore broke off, it revealed a very confused Nabooru. Koume and Kotake teleported Nabooru away and beckoned Link into the next room.

Koume and Kotake were the two witches whom raised Ganondorf, in a sense they are more powerful then he is, but he had the Triforce of Power when they had finished training him, so if he didn't have it, they would be stronger."

I looked at her with shock in my eyes. "Ganondorf had the Triforce... THEE TRIFORCE!"

Ruto shoved another handful in her mouth and nodded, chewing it slowly.

"And Link beat him?"

She held up one finger and swallowed then looked over at me. "Can I finish the story?"

I lowered my head and nodded. "Sorry."

"It's okay, now where was I... Oh, right, Link moved on and fought the two witches. The battle was going fairly well until they joined together to create Twinrova. Then things got a little harder but he still beat them and awakened Nabooru as The Sage of Spirit.

After he had finished there, he went back through Castle Town and to Hyrule Castle. Ganon had made the castle float above a pit of lava and The Sages had to create a bridge for Link to walk across so he could get in the castle.

Once inside, he broke all of the magical barriers so The Sages powers were active in the castle and they brought down the magical shield that kept him from the rest of the castle. As he climbed his way to the top, he fought many Iron Knuckles, and then when he was one floor away, he had to fight a Gold and Silver Knuckle.

They are smarter and more powerful then all the others. He had trouble with them but still pressed on until he was at the top. Ganondorf had been waiting for him, playing music until he got there. Above Ganon, Zelda sat in a blood red barrier, held in place until the magic holding her was broken.

As Link entered the room, Ganondorf's Triforce lit up, as well as Link's, and Zelda's."

I grinned as she said that last part, it was obvious really, I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before.

"Link then fought with Ganon until he was taken down, and Zelda was released but before Ganondorf died, he used the last of his magic to bring down the castle. Link and the Princess rushed out of the castle as fast as they could, barely making it out in time before it collapsed.

But just when they thought it was over, Ganon burst out of the ruble in a form that was more powerful, and knocked the Master Sword free from Link's hand. Before he had time to get it back, Ganon had raised another barrier and trapped Link inside with him, while leaving Zelda and the sword outside.

Link was forced to switch to another sword that he had obtained along the way known as the Big Goron's Sword. It didn't have the same magical abilities as the Master Sword, but it was longer and bore more power behind it's swing, since it had to be wielded with two hands.

Ganon was nearly three times his size now and was holding two blades, swinging them down at him. Link was nearly cleaved in two several times, but managed to dodge and attack the behemoth until he was brought to his knees.

The barrier was then let down and Link was able to retrieve the sword as well as Zelda's help. Zelda ran around trying to catch Ganon's attention but was unsuccessful, instead he was focused on Link, whom continuously slashed at his legs until he was once again brought down. Ganon tried to get back up but Zelda used her own magical abilities to hold him down and Link was given the opportunity to stab the sword into the King of Evil's face.

Now that all of Ganondorf's powers had been exhausted, The Sages were able to seal him away in The Dark Realm."

I grinned up at her. "That was a cool story!"

She smiled back at me and ate several more strips of fish.

"But, when did all of this happen?"

"A few thousand years ago."

I stared blankly at her, did she really expect me to believe that she was several thousand years old.

"Sages do not age, but our agelessness has it's price and limits."

"Like what?"

"We don't dream, and we cannot pass our agelessness along, meaning those we love, will eventually die, and we are powerless to stop that, it's why I never got involved. My father's death was hard enough, and I only knew my mother until I was three."

"Oh." I looked away, she was obviously hurt by that.

"And we can still die from a mortal wound, but at the speed our bodies heal it would have to be very serious."

"I see..." I kept my eyes averted, I still wasn't sure how her emotions worked yet, I had only known her for a few days after all. I heard her stand up and put the plate on top of the small grill.

"Come, it's time for more swimming."


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright, another update, I did say in TSL I would be getting back into the flow of writing. At the moment I'm experimenting with POV's, and I think I've made my decision. No POV seems easier to write and leaves things open for better descriptions, wouldn't you say so? Anyways, sorry for my pointless rambling, please continue to the actual story.

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**

_**No POV:**_

All was silent across Lake Hylia save for the sound of the wind and waterfall off to one side. Twilight had just begun to fall across the shimmering water, creating a warm atmosphere for any whom sat at the lake's edge. The sound of crickets on shore filled the area not long after with their song, indicating night's advance, and at the same time giving the air a pristine feeling.

A figure suddenly burst forth from the water, shattering the calm of the day, and rolled across the ground in front of the Spirit Spring's entrance. Without wasting any time, the figure quickly ran up the bridge ahead as a second figure burst from the water, repeating the first's actions.

"Too slow, hurry up!" Ruto called back at her student.

Zorn smirked and launched himself into a full on sprint up the bridge towards his teacher. Many times they had gone through this test over the last five years, this was the one though, he was determined to catch her this time.

She jumped across many small islands and climbed up to a small plateau where a tower stood off on her left. Zorn was not far behind, jumping across nearly a half second after his teacher had left the next one. Though she was faster at climbing, the dive they always took at the cliff was lessened for him thanks to his slightly larger figure.

He pulled himself up to flat ground and sprinted towards the tower as the blades grass under and around him danced by the wind's command. He could see Ruto was nearly upon the cliff edge now, a good distance ahead of himself. He mentally cursed for leaving his boots in the temple, it would have made the climb much faster.

Ruto stood at the edge, letting herself slowly fall backwards into the wind until she was over the edge and out of his sight. Zorn dashed off the cliff side and angled himself into a dive as he fell towards the water, the bluster around him fighting his every move, however only succeeding in slowing him. Ruto splashed into the water as he was halfway down, he could see her already swimming deeper and further away from him through the surface.

He made contact with the water not long after and immediately began swimming in her direction. Once again she was faster thanks to the fins her body held, while he only had webbed feet. He didn't focus long on that fact though, instead watching as she launched herself out of the water and quickly ran across it's surface.

This was his favorite part, in the many years of Zoran combat training, this had always been his passion. Doing the same as she had, he flew out of the water, pulling a staff free from his back as he went, and ran across the surface of the lake towards her.

She stood still upon the water, waiting for him with her own staff at the ready. Ruto hadn't taught him any magic yet and seemed to always use that to her advantage when training or testing him, like now. Zorn could only run across water with sheer will power while she could condense the water and stand upon it or levitate above it.

She smirked at him as he grew closer, keeping her weapon behind her back until the last second. Zorn swung in a back-handed ark, to which she easily blocked with her own weapon. The force of the impact rattled his arms with vibrations, stunning him for a moment and leaving him open for attack.

His Zoran teacher took this chance immediately with a back-handed swing of her own, sending him back a ways. Said student quickly retaliated, using the knock back to his advantage. He back peddled for a moment before moving off to her right, circling behind her then flipping over Ruto's head as she was turning to follow his movement.

His staff connected with hers once again as he spun over her, bouncing him a little higher and setting his spin off course. Quickly repositioning himself, Zorn dove under water and came up at her from beneath. It was the first time for this tactic and she was immediately caught off guard by this, being knocked off her feet and into the water as he collided with her.

Ruto had quickly recovered and was swimming down to the lake bed with Zorn not far behind. The two stepped down on the soft ground and began circling each other, waiting for someone to make the first move, both their staffs held by one hand behind their back.

Ruto quickly shot the end of her staff for Zorn's face to which he dodged, but only just barely. He knocked the weapon sideways with his own and swung down the length at her own face. She quickly ducked and lashed out with a kick headed for his torso before he had even completed the swing.

The kick never collided, as he had brought up his leg and swiftly knocked her own away while bringing his staff into a defensive position, she was obviously the one on offense this time around. She answered his suspicions by bringing herself to a stand point with her staff while swinging a fist at him.

He brought up forearm to block but at the last second, she reversed her attack. Using her staff as a base point, Ruto swung her body around it and shot a foot out at his weapon, knocking it free from his hand and off into a current.

Zorn didn't heed it much attention for she was already swinging the staff at him once again. He knocked it aside and performed an ax kick, hitting her shoulder and throwing her off balance. Taking the momentary falter, he spun the staff out of her hand and knocked her back with another kick.

His teacher spun in the water, realigning herself with him and brought up her fists, once again slowly circling him. Keeping the staff behind his back, and one hand extended in defense, he moved in the opposite direction, their eyes locked all the while.

She suddenly shot forward and slammed her palms into multiple areas on both his chest and arms, hitting as many pressure points as she could in order to stun him. With one last attack, she focused both palms on his chest and knocked him backwards in the water, leaving him to float for a moment and let go of his weapon.

Ruto snatched the weapon away moments before he recovered and began swimming upwards for the surface. Much to Zorn's luck, the staff she had knocked away earlier had come back around in a current and he quickly collected it in his arms before swimming after her.

Surfacing not long after she had, Zorn looked around for any sign of his opponent, until he finally looked skyward to find that she was floating directly above him. "Hey! That's not fair!"

"Fair?" She giggled. "Who said any of this was fair?"

Before he could respond, said Zora flew a distance away then connected with the water, continuing her speed while running across it's surface. The youth silently scoffed at her then forced himself onto the surface as well, sprinting after her.

The Sage looked back at him with a smile then suddenly stopped, waiting once again at a stand point. Zorn kept his speed, dragging the staff's tip in the water behind him, creating a small wave, until he was upon her, then swung upwards.

Water was forced up into her face with the attack, but the staff was all the same blocked with the center of her own staff. Her student stepped up onto her weapon and performed a flare over her, kicking her in the back before landing in the water with a splash. Though her own splash came first, it wasn't before she let out a short lived scream.

He didn't want to give her the advantage again therefor no sooner had he resurfaced did he continue running across the water. Ruto resurfaced not long after looking somewhat angry, though it was nothing he hadn't seen before.

Said teacher quickly moved back up on the water and bolted after him. He was beginning to think that he hadn't hit her in back with the way her face looked, and now that he thought about it, when he made contact, he had touched something rounder then her back.

His thoughts were confirmed as she neared with a very subtle shade of pink on her cheeks, but she didn't give him much time to think about it before he was forced to jump to dodge a swing. He retaliated with a mid air strike of his own that narrowly missed her temple, leaving him vulnerable.

Ruto quickly swung her weapon into his side and sent him spiraling out of control onto a small patch of land near the waterfall. He landed with a thud and quickly scrambled to his feet, readying himself at the sight of the quickly approaching woman.

No sooner had she come withing range did she send a flurry of attacks in his direction, her face twisted in anger. Zorn blocked as many jabs, that all seemed to be aimed at his mid-section, as he could with quick little side swipe movements, but he was once again forced into a disadvantage.

Jabbing required much less work then blocking such an attack, and it was draining him. Gauging the gap of time between each jab. With careful timing, he waited until she sent the weapon in his direction once again, then front-flipped onto the end of the staff, forcing it safely into the ground.

Ruto stumbled in shock and tripped over the weapon, her already gained momentum being her downfall, and fell flat on her face in a small patch of flowers. Taking the opportunity before him, Zorn planted his knee into her lower back and quickly brought the staff around her head and against her neck, pulling back slightly as to force her to hold herself up with her arms to avoid being choked.

"Good." She congratulated him. "You finally caught me, after all these years."

He smiled at his accomplishment, you could even say he was beaming! But inwardly, he frowned, this meant he would have to leave Ruto. He didn't want to leave Ruto, not after all they had been through, but she couldn't know of this. _What would she think if she did know? What would she do with me... _He thought to himself.

Ruto turned her head back to look at him and cleared her throat, breaking his train of thought. "Will you let your captive go now, oh so kind Zorn?" She playfully asked, wiggling a bit underneath him.

He quickly got up and turned away, keeping his reddened face from view, pretending to stare out at the sky. _What's going on, why does my face burn? I don't recall being hit in the face... Then again, one doesn't regularly recall being hit in the face._

Zorn could hear Ruto stand up in the grass, followed shortly after by the sound of her feet moving across the many blades beneath her. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her walk up beside him, her eyes gazing out at the beautiful red-orange sky.

He couldn't make out much of her figure without it being noticeable, but from what he could see, her arms were delicately folded across her chest. A single daisy was held in her right hand so that it's petals were near her face, lazily flopping in the wind.

The air around them had calmed and was now just a simple breeze that left little ripples on the water's shimmering surface, it was a beautiful moment, and he got to share it with her. _What's wrong with me, why do I feel this way? What are these strange feelings, and why do I long for... Something, I'm not sure what, but something... Should I ask her? How would she react if I asked? No... I won't ask anything._

"Zorn?" Her voice suddenly filling the quite. Zorn looked over at Ruto, her face showing small traces of concern. "You look troubled, is everything alright?"

He nodded in reply, the burning in his face long gone.

"Are you sure?" Ruto tried.

The youth looked down at his feet, quickly thinking up something to answer her question with a false truth. "Darunia, what's he like?"

The Zora looked back out on the lake, a gentle smile on her features. "You worry to much, Zorn. I have known him for a long time now, and I believe it is safe to say that he is a kind hearted Goron. Though he may be very strict and commanding at times, he is only doing so to harden you, such is his job."

"What exactly is he going to teach me?"

"Honestly, I am not all too sure on that. From what I understand, he will teach you to be a warrior of power. Which translates in my mind to a man whom doesn't think but swings his sword all the same. I believe that is why I was your first teacher, so that your wits would not be dulled as a child, but rather, strengthened." She giggled.

He smiled, she always had a great sense of humor that seemed to repair any mood he was faced with. Ruto let out a sigh and moved down to her knees in front of the water, then gently lay the flower on the lake's surface, giving it a small push away from the shore before sitting back with her legs curled up beside her, using one arm to support the rest of her frame.

Her head turned slightly away from him, only a fraction of her face still visible. Knowing that her vision was compromised, he turned his eyes towards her and watched the Sage's expression. The Zora's eyes had shut and her lips turn into a small, sad frown.

He watched as one tear slipped free from the corner of her eye and snaked a path down her cheek where it rolled off her chin and into the water, a quiet, gentle sound resounding from the drop. Zorn's head was ablaze with question, all revolving around a feeling that he didn't understand, but then he saw her tear and his mind calmed itself. Now he felt different, he knew this feeling, sorrow.

The youth sat down with his feet in the water next to her, not daring to refocus his eyes upon the crying Zora. As the two sat there, the sun slowly inched it's way over the horizon until twilight finally dissipated and night took over, the howl of a wolf marking the transition.

Ruto sighed again and slowly slunk forward into the water, barely making any sound as she submerged her body in it's tight wrappings. Zorn watched her swim to the depths until she was out of sight, leaving him alone on shore to let a tear of his own fall freely.

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_**Ruto POV:**_

I couldn't take being next to him any longer, it was killing me inside, so I slowly moved into the water, planning on going back to my temple. The water pulled the tears from my eyes as soon as I began swimming down. Even though they weren't visible to anyone now, I could feel them being whisked away by the water I left behind with each stroke I made, pushing myself closer to the lake bed.

I decided against going into the temple, even though it was why I came down here, instead I landed on one of the pillars and sat with my legs crossed at it's peak. Burying my face in my hands, I asked myself the question that had been on my mind since before leaving the shore. _Why do I feel this way?_

He would have to leave tomorrow, but why did that bother me so? I had watched over the boy since birth, and continued raising him after his parents death, but this... Is this what a mother felt when her child left home? No, that's not right, he didn't feel like a son to me. Then what was this feeling?

Could it be something... More? No, no it can't be, we are so different, it would never work. He would eventually whither from age and I would be left alone, I knew this already, it's why I keep love buried. Could it have resurfaced though? No, that couldn't happen, I've worked too long to let my guard down now.

Maybe he had just grown on me and this really was just a motherly feeling. Either way, I was softly sobbing now, knowing that my time with him was up, and now he would leave me here, alone with myself once again, like I had been the last two thousand years or so. No one to talk to, to spar with, to share space with, no one to keep me company, all alone.

The knowledge hurt, more then anything I've felt in a long time and there was nothing I could do to stop it, he was designed to stop Kabalstin, keeping him here now for my own selfish needs wasn't something I had the heart to do. He had to leave tomorrow now that he had surpassed me, however knowing that he was only doing as he must, didn't make the pain go away.

I stopped my sobs as a small ripple moved through the water a moment later, most likely it being Zorn jumping in. I slowly floated away from my seat and swam to the ground, hiding behind a small patch of seaweed. My suspicions were confirmed as the young man swam into view, headed for entrance of the home we shared.

The jet calmed itself and he quickly swam through, the current resuming not long after. I resumed my sobs after a moment or two of the current coming back, the eerie sound of my voice echoing through the water.

This wasn't right, it shouldn't be this hard.


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright, another chapter done. Before you read, make sure to go look at the Twilight Princess version of Ruto by: twilightzant of DeviantArt. It's how I picture her here, and honestly it looks better than the OoT version.**

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_**No POV:**_

Zorn opened his eyes, now free from the dreamless sleep that had been interrupted many times throughout the night. His eyes were still red from fatigue, and his body ached from the lack of energy. Although the ceiling, always alight with it's mystical glow, soothed him somewhat as it always had, this was the last time he would wake to it's beauty.

The youth lay there a bit longer, staring up at the mystic he had grown so accustomed to. It was going to be a hard day, that was for certain. He was to be off to train under a new teacher, and to be entirely honest, he was a little scared.

Gorons were large rock people, many traveled through Castle Town so he knew what they looked like, and the first thought they brought into his mind was 'fear them, run away'. When he was younger, he did just that, but it had been years since his last encounter with a Goron. However all memories of them were polar to positive.

He had grown over time though, and maybe his new teacher wasn't really as intimidating as his mind made him out to be, maybe there was nothing to be afraid of. Yeah, that's what Ruto had said, she said Gorons have big, warm hearts, so why fear them?

Zorn felt better after thinking it through a bit, but he was still troubled with leaving, and his body continued to beg for sleep that would not come. The young man sat up in his bed and flipped his legs over the side. He stood and stretched his arms above his head, earning several pops before walking over to the bathroom.

He finished and dressed himself in his normal attire, a blue tunic that had a hood draped off the back, a slightly darker blue leggings and standard, tan traveler's boots. All in all, his clothing was nothing special besides the custom tunic, but the only thing that made it sound spectacular was the added hood. The youth could blend with a crowd easily in this choice of clothing.

He wore everything that he owned, in a way, he was like a beggar from the market place now, nothing but what was visible in his appearance granted to his name. He looked up to the ceiling one last time, keeping eyes fixed on it for several minutes before leaving the room.

Seeing the next room only made him feel more pain, it was here that he had first truly swam like he had dreamed of so many times, and it was here that he and Ruto shared their meals. At the later thought, it suddenly occurred to him that the smell of grilled fish was not present, neither was a certain blue figure. Where was she?

Zorn walked around the pool and exited into the large room with the singular pillar in the center. The youth launched himself into the water and swam around, scanning everything in sight, but came up empty handed. He searched through the armory and the pillar, but to no avail. It hadn't dawned on him before, but he was never told of where she slept, she was just there when he awoke.

The young man searched the area once again just to be sure before moving back to the room with the large pillar. He was utterly confused with her disappearance, for five years she had been there when he awoke, but today she was completely absent.

The youth began to think back on his time here, searching for any clue as to her whereabouts. She had told him to stay clear of a few parts of the temple, especially the above water door leading to the west. As much as he hated to disobey, he couldn't stop thinking about what lay beyond the doors of secret, especially the one to the west.

Taking up a rebellious mindset, he quickly swam to where the door sat, climbed atop the small ledge, and entered. The room he now stood in was very puzzling, considering there was no logic in it being there.

He walked down the short hallway and looked down at the two waterfalls before him. Each started at either side of the room and fell into a black abyss in the center. Moving with the water on the far side, platforms continuously appeared at the top, slid down the water covered slope, then disappeared into the darkness.

On his side however, there were two platforms, one stationary, and one that moved up and down on the waterfall. A single target was mounted onto the end of each platform, for what reason, he was completely unsure of, this room had already had his head spinning since he first set foot in here.

None of this made sense, it was truly illogical. Why even put the platforms? Zorn shook his head then jumped off to the right out of the way of the two platforms and slid a few feet before jumping once again. His body collided with the wall and he quickly ran across its surface before jumping to the highest moving platform in the center of the room. Before it had a chance to bring him closer to the abyss, he was already jumping up to grab the ledge above the waterfall.

The youth pulled himself up into the hallway opposite to the one he had entered with and calmly walked through the door at the end. The room he now stood in wasn't as bizarre as the last but it was certainly odd. Several stone heads were scattered everywhere, some with necks bringing them a good distance from the floor, while others simply sat there. Once again the random target symbols doted the room, no true pattern to them what so ever.

A half filled pool of water surrounded the four ledges in the room. From what he could see, there was a higher area off to his right where several more of the stone heads lay. As if the bodiless heads and the targets weren't enough, there was a red crystal in the center of the room that confused him further.

Zorn had never encountered anything like this and was taken aback at the odd sights before him. _I might be able to make it up to the higher area if I hop up on that one's head_ .He thought while eying one of the stones on the floor. _Then push up the wall and grab the ledge._

He considered it for another moment before running in the direction of the red crystal. His feet collided with the smooth surface and he almost slipped, but he retaliated with a spin as he jumped off to the ledge, realigning himself in midair.

A loud _ting_ echoed throughout the room as he rolled across the surface of the ledge and he could see the stone head he was going to use as a step, was steadily moving upwards now. Without thinking as to why it was moving, he quickly hopped up onto it and rode it to the top.

The bodiless head stopped in perfect line with the second floor, allowing him to put as little effort as possible into dismounting. Once on solid ground, the youth looked back at the crystal to see that it had turned a solid green. It was quite apparent to him now that it was a switch of some kind, obviously fueled by magic.

He turned back around and saw a door just a little ways in front of him, but rather large spikes blocked passage from one side of the second floor to the other. It was going to be tough but after studying it for a moment he walked up to the spikes, and laid his back to them.

Taking a deep breath, he ran at one of the stones, pushing off of it in mid jump to gain a little more height and running across the right side wall. As he neared the spikes however, he realized it was still not enough and at the last second possible, he pushed away from the wall, giving him the last few inches of clearance he desired to safely clear the obstacle.

His feet collided hard with the floor, forcing him to drop to his hands and knees with a grunt. It was rare that he not roll but there was a single step in front of him that would have hurt worlds more had he rolled. Muttering to no one in particular, he stood and exited through the door.

Zorn began to wander if he was still dreaming now, because it most certainly seemed that way. The room he had entered wasn't a room at all but an endless abyss in all directions. Ruins to some sort of monument lay on both his left and right before leading off to a foggy nothingness.

A single tree atop a mound marked the half way point between the two doors leading in and out of this... room? He had no idea how to really address this place. The youth slowly walked through the ankle deep water towards the blackened, dead tree, and stepped up onto the dry land. It made no sense that a tree be here in the first place, and a dead one at that, there was so much water around, it should be flourishing.

Shaking his head, he stepped back in the water and walked to the exit. He turned the handle and pushed, but nothing happened. After a few more turns, he face palmed and realized it was locked. Seeing as there was no reason for him to stay here, the young man turned around and began walking back.

He suddenly stopped his strides and left his mouth hung open, a perfect copy of himself stood with its arms folded over its chest, leaning against the dead tree, glaring daggers at him. Zorn could do nothing but stare at the doppelganger before him, although they looked very much alike, his copy was wearing black, to match his skin.

It was a perfect copy, save for those two differences. The dark one suddenly ran at him, quickly bringing the youth out of his trance and back to reality. The dark him swung a fist at his head to which he simply ducked but before he could react, a knee was forced up into his face, knocking him flat on his back.

Zorn moaned and held his face, looking up at his opponent. It smirked back down at him, and then suddenly dove into the water. He was bewildered by the act and stood up to investigate, but before he could walk over to the area it had submerged in, it had launched out of the water from his left.

He quickly rolled forward then looked back to see the dark one had submerged once again. He was beginning to fear what exactly could happen should he decide to stay, so he ran for the door. As soon as his feet connected with the stone before the door, bars slid over his escape, locking him in the abyss.

His eyes widened as an evil cackle filled his ears, the sound echoing off into the distance. The youth turned around to see the shadow perched atop one of the branches grinning back at him, its pearl white, jagged teeth clearly visible in contrast to its skin and clothing.

Doing as he had been trained to do so, he slowly walked back towards the island, hiding any fear he may have had behind a face set in stone. "Who are you, what do you want."

The dark one continued to grin before answering. "I am but a lonely shadow, who wants your blood to drip from my chin." It cackled madly before back-flipping into the water.

Zorn continued to keep his face calm, but inside he was ablaze with fear. Raising his arms, he backed himself up to the tree and carefully scanned the water. The warm feeling he had felt years ago suddenly flared up inside him and his vision become far more vivid then it ever had before.

The feeling screamed suddenly to turn around the tree and swing. Doing exactly as he was told, he flipped around it in a butterfly kick, praying it was right. He felt his foot collide with a jaw before landing then the sound of a body smacking against the wet ground came.

The youth held his stance steady but with a slight tremble, the feeling had been correct, in the water lay the shadow, a stream of black blood flowing from its mouth. He smiled in victory, but it was quickly wiped away as the shadow stood back up and ran straight at him, its lips curled in a snarl.

Zorn felt the warmth tell him to perform a flare-kick just as the dark one had reached the small island. Obeying, he flipped over the doppelganger and kicked it in the back of the head. His copy screeched before its face was forced into the hard wood, silencing it.

He landed on his back but had curved it and rolled away to avoid being hurt. He almost laughed at the sight before him, his enemy was painfully arched up the side of the tree, its sharp teeth sunk deep into into it at about three feet up. Black blood poured down the side, pooling at the bottom for a few seconds before forming a river down the small island that fed into the water.

The Shadow moaned into the darkened wood and slowly raised its hands up to try and push away from the tree. After several attempts, its head jerked away from the tree and a hiss of pain escaped the shadow's mouth. "You are going to regret that, boy!"

The Dark one vanished in a puff of black smoke, leaving Zorn coughing as some of it made its way into his lungs. His doppelganger suddenly pounced on him from behind, knocking him to the ground. His Shadow straddled him as he lay face down on the island, and began clawing at his back. The youth hissed in pain as long gashes were carved into his back with each long stroke of the shadow.

Zorn, his body flexible from years of training, kicked his assailant in the back of the head before rolling on top of it and cracking it hard in the face with a closed fist. He hopped off before it could react and watched it bring its clawed hands up to its nose. There was a sharp snap as the shadow forced its nose back into place, a guttural growl escaping its bloodied lips as it eyed him in anger.

The Dark One stood up and began circling the young man, keeping his eyes fixed with malice all the while. It suddenly charged at him, swinging its back hand around, easily blocked with a simple swipe. It quickly retaliated with an uppercut that was, once again, easily knocked away.

Zorn took advantage of his opponent's arms being at its sides and swiftly kicked it in the abdomen, sending it flying back a good six feet. The Shadow slowly sat up, a blank look on its face, before standing back up and eying him with curiosity. "I normally am able to overpower my victims and use their own tactics against them, but you, I'm afraid, are rather different."

Zorn smirked at his doppelganger before it continued. "Why is it that you have come here? Who are you?"

"My name is Zorn, and I am looking for my instructor."

The Shadow's face lit up in recognition and it exploded in a plume of smoke. The area he was in suddenly faded into a normal room, the tree and water still present, but there were walls now as well as a ceiling. "Ruto told me about you, her room is just ahead." The Dark One's voice echoed.

The sound of a door being unlocked filled the area as well as bars sliding up, resounded and the youth walked to the door that had been locked and slowly turned the handle. There was a small click and it slowly swung open. The warm feeling immediately faded, the fear setting back in, however for a different reason this time.

He hadn't thought about how Ruto would react should he find her; the thought came to him as he peered into the room, seeing her sleeping form in a bed on the far right side of the room. On the left side of the room there was a small table, two chairs on either side.

A small fountain marked the center, residing upon a single, raised area of floor. The water spouted neatly out the top and curved through the intricate pathways that snaked down into a circular puddle of water, surrounding the tower from which the water flowed.

There was a second set of neatly folded sheets and such set at the foot of her bed on top of a wooden, foot locker. It was nothing special, but it was something that he had only seen in a few households back in Castle Town, specifically the ones of higher income.

Zorn slowly closed the door behind him, making sure to turn the handle only after he was sure the locking mechanism was lined up correctly, as to avoid as much noise as possible. He slowly let the knob turn back, a quiet click telling him it was safe to let go.

He silently walked over to the small table and sat at one of the chairs. His mind screamed at him to leave, telling him how stupid he was for entering, for disobeying, for sitting down, and now for watching her sleep!

His eyes involuntarily gazed upon her face, keeping themselves locked on her features. His face flushed just as he regained control of his sight. He quickly turned his head to the ground and lifted a hand to his cheek.

It was a mystery to the youth's mind as to how his face could burn so much even though there had been no contact to the area. His flesh was hot, not painfully hot, but it certainly wasn't normal. It was the same as his current emotions. Something kept telling him to look back up and marvel her face, but he kept his eyes glued to the floor out of some hidden sense of respect.

He heard the sheets ruffle slightly as she adjusted her position in her sleep, and he found that he was once again looking at her. As she finished turning, he brought his eyes back to the ground, feeling ashamed. It wasn't apparent as to why, but he was certain it was shame.

There was more ruffling a few minutes later, but he kept his eyes down, not wanting to feel so ashamed again. Zorn began to feel slightly unnerved, again, for reasons he was unsure of. It was as if someone had been staring at him for the longest time, boring holes into him. A cold thought suddenly revealed itself in his mind; what if she was watching, what if she had turned without him knowing and was angry.

The youth slowly looked up, and sure enough, Ruto had turned back over without him knowing and was staring directly at him. Much to his surprise however, her face wasn't twisted in anger. She instead wore a soft smile, her eyes half open, held down by sleep's tight grasp.

"Good morning" She yawned and rubbed her eyes.

He couldn't help but smile back at her as he caught sight of those beautiful, shimmering, deep purple eyes. "Good morning."

She propped herself up on one arm and continued smiling as she looked back towards him. "Didn't I teach you it was rude and un-gentlemanly for you to enter a girl's room? And to watch her sleep? My my, that is very rude indeed." Her smile widened to a grin.

He had to admit, it wasn't right to come in, but the way she put it made him feel a little better. "I'm sorry, you weren't there when I woke up and it kinda scared me, so I came looking for you."

Her eyes widened a bit and she let her smile drop, but kept a some-what serious look. "You were worried? Why were you worried?"

He felt a little embarrassed now, like a child. "You were always there before, it just seemed strange that you weren't this time." The odd sensation of tears welling up in his eyes suddenly became very apparent and he once again lowered his head. Why were there tears?

Ruto slowly swung her legs over the side and stood before walking over to him. She knelt in front of him just in time to see a tear drop off his nose and land on his leg. She realized at that moment that he was probably hurting just as much as she was, which brought her more pain, but she was going to be the strong one here.

"Hey," She whispered as she brought one hand to his cheek. "it's going to be alright, okay? I know it's kind of scary, but it's okay, I'm here now." It was odd to be talking to a teenager like this, someone whom had wielded a staff the day before and had beaten her even while she seemingly out-matched him.

Another tear fell and his voice cracked. "No it's not, I don't want to go, I don't want things to change."

Ruto slowly pulled Zorn into a hug and softly stroked his hair, holding back tears of her own now. "I know, but it's for the best, you are going to learn a lot, and then when they have taught you everything, you can come back, okay?"

He sniffled once. "B-but, I don't – don't want – to wait that long. I want to stay here with you, I don't want to go." He was beginning to sob now, the hot tears beginning to fall onto her shoulder.

She felt her own eyes begin to well up. "Oh Zorn, you have to, you have to go. I want you to stay too, I really do, but you have to keep going. Not just for your mother, not just for your father, not even for you or me, but for all of those poor people that Kabalstin hunts down. For all of those people he murders in cold blood, you can stop him, you just have to keep walking the path." Her own voice was now beginning to crack.

Zorn buried his face into the crook of her neck and wrapped his arms around her back, letting himself go in the moment and he simply cried. She felt hot tears prick her face, and Ruto had to bite her lip to stop from crying with him.

_It really shouldn't be this hard._

* * *

**Well... This is kinda embarrassing but I actually shed a few tears while writing this last part. It just flowed so quickly that I could see it all play out in my head as I was typing, it was just so fast. That's a first for crying over my own writing!**

**The Sage of Water,**

**~ConGie**


	6. Chapter 6

He felt better now, it still hurt to leave, but letting out all the pent up emotion had helped more than he had thought it could. Zorn was however embarrassed to have said those things to her, even if it was what he wanted to say; he had shown weakness to such a degree that he was afraid she would be mad for ignoring her teachings. Ruto had told him to always hide emotions, to hide anything that would give anyone even the slightest edge.

But, than why had she too cried? Did she really trust him enough to show him her personal feelings? To give him an edge over her? He had pondered this since the two of them had sat down to breakfast, which had been delicious, to say the least.

She had made the usual grilled fish, but had also seasoned it with something. As to with what, he was unsure of, but it had been amazing.

They had left the temple after eating and had swam out into the lake, leading to where they now were. Each stood side by side on a small patch of land breaking off from the cliff wall right next to the large waterfall that fed into Lake Hylia, it's rumble drowning out the sound of the distant, exotic birds overhead.

Zorn stood there, silent as the grave, with a frown spread across his face. This was the last time he was going to have the luxury of such constant water around him, always accessible. This was the last time, and it was truly upsetting. He looked over at Ruto and almost smiled, but seeing her face, set with sadness as well, just brought more pain.

"Are you ready?" She asked, her voice steady, though filled with grief. He slowly nodded and looked down into the water where a small jet was set into the wall. That was his way out, that jet. The Zora, with their many fins, could scale the waterfall, but he only had webbed feet.

Ruto sighed. "Once you get inside, the first hand grip will be on your right, then on the left, and it will switch off like that for a few hundred feet. Remember to keep your eyes closed or your head down, or you may damage your sight."

He slowly nodded in response as she approached him. "When the tunnel opens up, you will need these to continue." Reaching into a pack slung across her back, she pulled out two gauntlets and handed over to him.

They were colored a bright silver across the top and bottom guards, and a forest red-brown on the internal leather. The only time he knew of any kind of leather to be red was when it was magically tampered, meaning she must have done something to them.

"Thank you, what did you do to them?"

A ghost of a smile formed upon her lips. "The leather will not wear, now put them on."

Zorn did as he was told, and slipped the gauntlets onto his arms over his sleeves, making sure his fingers slid through their respective holes. He flexed his hands and few times then tightened the straps until they were comfortably fitted. There was a little more weight to it than he expected, but it was nothing he couldn't get used to.

"When you run out of hand grips, wait until the current switches directions, it won't be for long so as soon as it switches back, stab those as hard as you can into the rock."

The youth looked confusedly at her with eyebrows raised. "Stab what into the rock?"

Ruto smiled ever so slightly before walking up next to him. "The leather senses two commands," She ran her finger across the red that was visible. "open, and close; so long as you are directing the thought at them."

He looked at her, then back at the gauntlets. Daggers suddenly sprung forward, startling him greatly enough for him to jerk his head back. The blades looked to be made of pure silver, something any warrior with even the lowest standards should be proud of, and looked to be at the most, eight inches long.

Zorn could feel himself grinning as he stared at his present, his weapon.

"What do you think of them?" She asked.

"They're beautiful."

"I'm glad you think so. I spent the last year slowly compressing it together and feeding magic into it. They will not melt, they will not break, there is nothing you could possibly do to destroy them. The blades will not become dull and cannot be stopped when used to jab or stab, the tip is that finely pointed." She said, the pride in her voice apparent as she herself marveled at her own work.

He stood in awe over the gift, unsure of how exactly respond to such a kind offer. "Thank you, Ruto, these are amazing."

She smiled softly at him, then frowned again. "It's time." The grin he wore faded at the realization; she was right, their time was up. He began to turn away, but she caught him in one last hug before he left her arm's reach.

There was a small quiver in her lip as an almost inaudible whimper escaped, barely reaching his ear regardless of how close they were to each other. "Take- Take care of yourself, Zorn."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her as close to himself as he could. "I'll come back as soon as I can, I promise."

He felt her nod before forcing something into his hands and slowly backing away, her eyes glued to the ground. Zorn backed up to the edge of the land, still facing her. He looked down at the wax covered scroll in his hand before tucking it safely away in his belt. His eyes focused back up at her.

"Ruto?"

The Zoran woman looked up with tears in her eyes as her name left his lips.

"Smile for me." **(1)** Her face almost immediately set into a soft, radiant grin as the youth launched himself into the water and quickly disappeared into the small opening beneath the falls; leaving her to stand alone before she too jumped in, though headed another direction.

* * *

Zorn had been in the tube for nearly three hours now, and his energy was dwindling as he arms ached with the feeling of being turned to chu jelly. The current was like a blood stream, though not in the same exact sense. It came and went at different speeds every few minutes, each time returning at a random pace. Sometimes his blades would need to stay embedded for long periods of time should he wish to stay in place.

The current suddenly picked up once again, forcing him to slam his eyes shut to avoid injury. The secondary eye lids that most Zora had were usually grown at about the age of twenty, or whenever their bodies had grown enough muscle to swim against such strong currents.

His body had several years to go before the second pair grew in to protect his sight. After another minute of waiting, the water halted long enough for him to scrabble maybe twenty feet before he was forced to slam his blade into the hard stone beneath.

It stopped again and as he began to move, his eyes caught a glimpse of light up ahead before the rush started back up. He waited until it stopped then swam as quickly as he could towards the end, the light growing brighter with each second. Just before he was allowed freedom, his body began to slowly move backwards.

The water shifted oddly for a moment and his body smacked against the floor of the tube. His arms collided first and a blue light burst out around him. He waited until the water slowed to look up and saw electricity surround the gauntlets, arching up from the odd blue stone that lined to tube until the exit.

Zorn smirked and began crawling forward, even as the current picked up, he continued on until he exited the waterway entirely. The youth, once far enough away from the rushing water, swam away from the blue flooring and collapsed at the bottom of the small pool that he now lay in.

The sound of the blades slipping back into place were hardly audible against the rush of water not far away. He lay quietly in the same position until the sun had drifted out of his sight before building up enough willpower to swim to the surface. There were two shelves of land extending from each side of the pool, one on his left with what looked to be a grave on it, and one on his right leading to a hole in the wall.

He glanced over at the tombstone before slowly swimming over to the shelf on his right. The youth pulled himself up with shaky arms out of the water and had to roll to pull the rest of his body up onto land. With a groan, he flipped over onto his stomach and slowly crawled through the almost too small hole.

Once on the other side, he pushed himself off the ground and got to his feet, feeling slightly claustrophobic from being in such a tight space; which seemed rather odd considering what he had gone through to get here in the first place.

Remembering the scroll in his belt, he reached down and slowly unrolled it in case there was any damage. Much to his surprise, the wax had held firmly and had protected the writing within.

_**Zorn, I will be waiting for you atop what is generally the largest building in Kakariko Village for you until morning. It shouldn't be hard to miss, there is a hot spring at the peak from which steam shall rise high into the sky.**_

_**~Darunia**_

Zorn looked over the graveyard he had entered as he climbed down the steps leading from the upraised area from which the hole was situated upon. The ground was very uneven and rocky all around, holding some tomb stones higher then others, or at an angle. The last four that he passed however, were in perfect line, as if someone had originally intended to level the entire area.

As he continued to walk, the sounds of people began to fill his ears; a man and woman to be specific. Their speech grew louder with each passing moment, and it soon became apparent that the two were fighting with one another. He tried to block as much of it out as possible, but the anger coming from the man especially tugged at him... Then he heard a scream.

Forgetting his weariness, the youth took off in a sprint down the pathway until he was within a town. Many candle-lit buildings lined either side of the red rock faced canyon, some colored elegantly with paint that reflected the flickering torches scattered about. While all of this was indeed glamorous, the girl running through the street with a man hot on her tail was his main focus.

As he ran towards them, bystanders caught his vision and he realized that some of them were smiling at the scene. As he got closer, he could see that the girl was a Hylian-Goron mix, more the former than the latter.

Other than a few spots where organic stone shielded her on her arms, knee caps, and most likely some of her back as well, she looked completely Hylian.

She wore a simple skirt that only fell just past her knees, leaving her legs uncovered for the most part. A plain white tunic was sported atop her upper body and her red hair was tied tightly in a ponytail, swishing behind her.

Her face twisted into horror as she saw Zorn approach at high speed, and dropping to her knees in defeat, she began to sob. He reached her first before the other man and could hear her quietly pleading. "No, please," She cried. "I don't want to die, I did nothing wrong..."

Tears poured freely down her face as the man that had been chasing her caught up. He grabbed her by the arm with one hand, holding an ax in the other, and hoisted her to her feet. "Help me tie her up, boy!"

_Oh no... _He thought. He knew very well what was going to happen next. He had trained far too long, and had endured far too much to stand by and watch this, let alone help. Zorn grabbed a hold of the girl's arm, and quickly pulled her back, bringing the man along with her to collide face first with Zorn's clenched fist.

Before the man hit the ground, he pulled the girl close, earning a gasp from her. The man lay on the ground moaning and writhing around with his hands over his face, blood seeping in between his fingers.

He could hear murmurs from the Hylians that he had ran past now, their volume low, and tone menacing. He quickly looked around for an escape and spotted steam rising from the top of the building on his right. Knowing what it meant, a plan began to form in his mind. "When I tell you to run, I want you to get to the top of the building next to us as fast as you can, understand?" He whispered in her ear.

She shakily nodded in response as the man began to pick himself up. "Boy, you got a lot of nerve attacking me like that." He cracked his nose back into place.

"Go, now!" He hissed quietly, and she quickly ran past him without a word to a slope leading upwards. The man straightened himself and looked disbelievingly at him. "Do you know who I am?"

"Quite frankly, no, but that is beside the point."

The man growled at him and began to pace back and forth. "I am Taro, the Hybrid Hunter. I have been tasked by Lord Kabalstin to kill any and all Hybrids that come into Kakariko, but you have intervened with this task."

"Oh merciful Nayru, please don't monologue!" Zorn rolled his eyes while dragging out the 'please' longer than he really needed to.

Taro's face immediately flushed red with anger as the youth smirked.

"You are gonna regret that." The man ran forward with a cry and raised his ax high in the air. He swung down with all his might as Zorn raised his gauntlets to deflect the attack to the side. The man spun around with the momentum and was kicked in the side, once again being knocked to the ground, but he rolled as his body collided with the ground and was quickly back on his feet.

The man let out another cry and rushed him again, swinging his ax upwards from the ground. Zorn back-flipped away from its sharp blade before running back up and backhanding Taro clean across the face, sending him spinning.

By now, some of the others were beginning to grab weapons, though they still kept their distance. Taro glared up at him as he wiped away a thin trail of blood that oozed from the corner of his mouth. "No more lolly-gaggin'."

The man dropped his ax and whipped out two small daggers from his belt as he launched himself up to his feet. Zorn's lips twitched upwards ever so slightly in the corners as his blades sprung free, earning a surprised look from his opponent. It was quickly hidden away however as Taro ran forward in a flurry of jabs and swings.

Sparks flew freely as metal grazed metal with each blow that was harmlessly knocked aside. He certainly had speed, that was for sure, but he could hear the man panting already while Zorn wasn't fazed in the slightest. Several more jabs came before he grew tired of blocking and knocked his arms aside, essentially spinning him around.

Zorn kicked him in the lower back, forcing Taro to the ground for a third time. He chuckled as the man lay still, trying to restore his breathing pattern. Then Taro muttered something to the bystanders, whom were now mostly all armed, save for the few woman and children. "Kill him."

The armed men all sprang forward with a battle cry, most of them swinging a staff or similar, though there were a few had bladed weapons. The youth ran for the closest attacker after withdrawing his blades and disarmed the man while sending a rapid succession of punches into his abdomen. The man fell to the ground as Zorn swung a wide arc with his newly acquired staff, smacking several men's temples and sending them sprawling.

One rushed forward with a short sword and cut his staff in two down the middle. He was swiftly kicked back as one of the two pieces were thrown at him, hitting him in the collar bone. There was a wet snap as the bone broke along with a scream before the man fell back, clutching himself in pain with his one good arm.

The youth snatched up the short sword and discarded the other half of his old weapon violently towards another whom tried to rush him from behind. It hit him in the knee and knocked him face first into the ground.

Zorn blocked another man whom wielded a broadsword before pressing him back and dodging an ax that narrowly whooshed by his face. He quickly counted the remaining three, one of which had gotten back up. The other five either lay in pain, or unconscious on the hard ground.

The last few all held bladed weapons, the first two being the broad sword and ax, and the last being a full iron spear. Not waiting to give them an advantage, he tossed the short sword in the air, caught it by the tip and flung it at the man with the ax. The handle clocked him square in the forehead, knocking the brute flat on his back.

Two left.

The last two seemed somewhat weary of attacking him, what with glancing back and forth at each other and looking around them. His two gantlet blades slowly slid back out as a smile formed on his face. "You can either give up, or I can take you out as well, it's up to you."

He suddenly felt the tip of a dagger against his throat. "You can either give up," Taro taunted. "or I can take you out as well, it's up to you."

The other two men chuckled and brought their weapons down. Zorn continued to smile at them however, his teeth beginning to show. _Idiots... Every last one of them._

One moment Taro stood with Zorn in captive, the next, Zorn had shoved one blade through his hand and through the hilt of the dagger as well. The other two men gasped as he was swung over onto the ground in such a way that the impaled arm could be heard as it snapped at the wrist and possibly at the elbow.

Taro immediately began screaming and clawing at his arm, but Zorn held his other blade to the man's throat and the wailing ceased as the cold steel made contact. "You seem to already know the two options I am going to present you, make your choice."

The man gulped, as a cold sweat broke out across his body. "I – I give up! I'll do anything, just please, please don't kill me!"

Zorn slowly twisted the blade embedded in Taro's hand, bringing forth a blood curdling scream that pierced the silence. "It's not so fun when you're on the receiving end, is it?" He wretched the blade out of the man's hand and kicked him forward to the ground.

He bent down and wiped the blood from his blades on Taro's shirt before letting them slide back into place. Zorn began walking towards the hill that led up to the top of the building that held the spring and the two men in his path immediately cleared out of the way, visibly shaken from what they had witnessed.

Once at the top, he smiled as the sight of the young Hylian-Goron being comforted by a much larger Goron came into view. The woman turned around and as soon as her eyes caught sight of him, she ran towards him and embraced him. "Oh thank you! Thank you so much!"

Zorn fumbled for a moment, surprised that she had such power packed into such a tiny body, but recovered none the less. "No need to thank me, we hybrids gotta stick together, right?" He said as he returned the hug.

She backed away and smiled at him as he looked over to the Goron. "You must be Darunia."

"That I am, and you must be Zorn."

* * *

Zorn looked around the entrance of The Fire Temple with mild distaste, it was too bright, too hot, and far too... He couldn't even come up with words for what else he didn't like, but the fact of the matter was quite simply that he did not like it; though the complete opposite could be said for the giant Goron standing next to him. Darunia was grinning from ear to ear with pride as he took a deep breath of the boiling air.

"Welcome to my humble abode!" He roared happily.

Sweat was beginning to trickle down from his brow and it dripped off the tip of his nose. His new teacher chuckled. "Don't worry, I have an ever so slightly magic infused tunic to block out the heat. Follow me."

The duo walked off to the right of a large staircase to a small door that led to a green tinted room lit only by a single torch in its center. "We will practice fighting here in the dark at first, then we will move to the mines. Unlike Ruto, I prefer my race to know of my existence."

Zorn didn't really understand but pretended to all the same. They entered the next room and he was surprised to see that on the far wall, on an upraised section of flooring, there was a bed with a dark red tunic laid upon it as well as a small dresser, most likely filled with more.

But what surprised him the most was the small pool built into the floor of the room. Without giving the rock man any time to say another word, he launched himself into the water and swam to the bottom. It wasn't terribly deep, but it was enough to make him want to cry out of happiness. He resurfaced some time later to find a grinning Darunia looking down at him.

"I take it you are happy with this?"

He nodded quickly, bringing forth a chuckle from Darunia. "Well I'll leave you to it then. Just remember, that door," He said, pointing to the door from which they entered. "Will take you back out, that door," He pointed to the other. "Will take you to a small training area. It will produce dark magic based enemies for you to practice techniques on and such."

Zorn smiled up at him, still feeling overjoyed by the fact that he still had access to water. The Goron turned to leave but before closing the door he called out. "See you in the morning!"

The door clicked shut and he could hear each step his mentor took. He closed his eyes when the tiny tremors ceased and let himself seep to the bottom of the pool. With a smile on his face he let the fatigue from the day's long hours take their toll upon him and he drifted off.

* * *

**(1) This is a reference to a VERY well done, and already completed, story called "The Legend of Zelda: Rebel Assassin. I HIGHLY suggest you read it as well as the other stories "Split Infinitive" has written. And before you go and chew me out; "Split" has given me permission to use this reference so long as I gave credit, which I have.**


	7. Chapter 7

**-Six Years Later-**

The moon hung high in the night sky as the inhabitants of the Southern Hyrule Field Anti-Hybrid outpost slept, warm in their beds. Few sentries were posted on such calm nights like this. The air was warm and the crops were good, leaving everyone in a blissful state even if they were awake; that's why he chose tonight.

"We're under attack!" An armor clad guard roared just before an arrow burst forth from his windpipe, causing the man to gurgle in pain as he gripped the shaft and fell to his knees. A loud bell began to chime almost immediately after the guard fell to the ground, his fingers limp around the arrow, and his eyes glazed over.

Within minutes, the fortress was alive and awake with hundreds of men, all armed and angered by the sight of the full moon hanging lazily in the center of the night sky.

"I see him!" One archer from up on the wall yelled. Bringing up his bow, he took aim; but gasped as an arrow flew out from the darkness, split through the thick string of the bow, and embedded its tip within his shoulder.

The guard howled in pain and dropped his now useless weapon, but was silenced quickly as a blast of fire collided with his body and the surrounding area of five feet.

"Magicians to the wall!" An unknown soldier called out. Men with long sticks poured out into the courtyard from within the structure and climbed the stairs until they all stood atop the stone barrier. "There!" One of them shouted as he launched a ball of fire off into the darkness. The ball exploded upon impact, sending tiny flames about the point of impact.

"I got hi-" The magician started, but was cut off as a spear of ice found its way into his abdomen. He fell back and writhed in agony, though no one came to his aid, for they were all too busy building a shield of magic to block a hail storm of razor sharp ice now targeting everyone on the wall. Just as their shields began to falter, the ice suddenly halted and all was silent.

Before anyone could react, a man wearing a hood and a blue tunic materialized before the wizard on the far right and thrust his sword through the magician's gut. Holding up the body in front of himself, the man in blue charged forward, intent on either impaling another body, or throwing them off the wall.

The archers in the courtyard quickly took aim as blood began to drizzle down the wall from above. Just as the man finished off another wizard, the arrows were loosed upon him, though none met their mark as a powerful gust of wind threw them all back down to the ground, along with the last wizard.

Lightning split the sky for but a moment, and the man in blue was gone from his perch above, and now down in the courtyard, cutting down at the very least, one enemy per swing. As soon as the remaining guards recovered from the sudden onslaught, they rushed forward with a cry before being blasted away by some form of magical green-yellow light.

The man in blue stood silent and still as his enemy recovered, before long, they all ran forward again, but the same fate met their efforts once again.

"Surrender now, no more blood need be shed tonight unless you will it." He calmly offered.

As if to answer him, an archer pulled back his bowstring and let loose a bolt at full power at the same time as another flash of lightning lit the night. When everyone's eyes refocused, the archer lay dead, his own arrow deeply embedded in his forehead. They looked back to the man in blue and were surprised to see he now held a bow of his own, knocked with another arrow and pulled taut.

"Last chance."

Despite the show of skill presented by the invader, they rushed forward for a third time. He quickly fired his arrow into the closest target, closed the bow and slipped it into his holster on his leg before drawing his sword and hacking through those unfortunate enough to be caught within his reach.

Before long, each fell to his blade, save for one. The last soldier dropped his sword as the man in blue turned to face him directly, letting his last victim slowly slide off his weapon, where it dropped to the ground. The soldier dropped his sword and pointed to a door on the far side of the courtyard. "Through the door, up the stairs, down the hallway, and to the left. You can't miss it!"

"Thank you." The invader simply walked past the guard and let him run away in fear. He opened the door that was specified and entered into a grand ballroom, if it could really be called that. It wasn't terribly spectacular, but from the look of the tapestry, it at least held some sense of formality.

Doing as the guard said, he strode to the other side of the room and climbed a gray, carpet covered staircase. Once at the top, he continued onward past four statues and down a hallway where it T'd off both to the left and right.

He turned left and found a small set of stairs leading downward. The man quietly stepped down into darkness, and stood still as soon as the ground leveled out. As his eyes adjusted to the low levels of light, he looked around to find cages lining the entire perimeter. Whispers suddenly filled the room as the cells' many prisoners peered from behind their bars to see whether they were to be fed or beaten.

A woman in a cage to his right almost immediately began weeping when she caught sight of his blood soaked form and crawled as far back in her prison as far as she could. The invader frowned at the thought of these cells being considered protection to its inhabitants.

The man slowly walked over to the woman's cage and looked inside to see a Zora - Hylian mix, covered in bloody welts and bruises. Her clothing was ripped so much that the few scraps left were tied around her arms and legs where her beatings were worst to stop the blood flow. From the look of her current condition, she had possibly been through more than just the beatings her skin portrayed.

Hearing her sob louder when she saw him outside her cell, tears began to build in his own eyes and he slowly unsheathed his sword. "Please." The woman barely made out in a broken voice. "No more. I beg you."

With a few slices, the man cut clean through the cast iron bars and pulled them away as she buried her face in her hands. The invader slipped his blade back into his scabbard and knelt in front of the woman. She gasped suddenly as he gently hugged her, stroking her back as soothingly as he could manage.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." He whispered before pulling away, and bringing his hood back so she could see his face. "My name is Zorn, and I'm here to get you all out of here."

Her sobbing slowly decreased until she could speak clearly enough for him to understand. "No you aren't, you're just like the last guard."

"No, ma'am, I'm not" He pulled her back into a hug and gently whispered. "I'm just like you."

She sniffed a few times. "Liar."

Zorn sighed and stood. "I need to get the others, there isn't much time." He slowly walked out of her cell and began cutting through the next cell, and the next, and the next. The room quickly filled with gasps, that eventually turned into astonished cries of freedom as people began to step out of their cages.

He finished the last cell and walked back to the stairs from which he entered the room as a smile crept across his face. "Alright, now everyone listen up!" All heads turned towards him and silence filled the room. "I haven't dispatched all the guards nor their leader, but the majority of them are dead. Make sure no one is left behind, and follow me, understand?"

"Who are you?" An elderly looking man asked.

"My name is Zorn, I am a Hybrid who has a personal score to settle with the one known as Kabalstin, as do all of you I presume. Time is short so please, those strong enough, help the weaker, I will fight off any resistance we encounter. Are there any more questions?" He asked as he began to count how many there were before him, eventually reaching a total of twenty.

"Where will we go? The Hunters are everywhere!" Called out a younger looking Zora – Goron.

"I have liberated Kakariko Village, Death Mountain, and most of Faron Woods; however there is a newly established settlement that I have yet to set foot just past Faron's Spring. They could be safe, as I have heard they are a simple farming village, but we can never be too careful, can we?" His smile slowly dropped as the sound of clanking armor and yells came from behind him.

"The intruder is in here!" Called out one voice.

"Close it off!" Cried another.

Zorn whirled around as a gate fell down at the top of the stairway and was quickly locked by a guard standing behind the bars. Just as the lock clicked into place, an arrow slid through the small clearance offered by the bars and found its way into the man's lung. He cried out in pain and fell on his back with his grip locked tightly around the shaft.

A blue figure stood behind the bars meant to lock them all in the dungeon with a ball of flame slowly building between his hands. The guard looked to the intruder just as the flames were released. The flames easily melted the bars away, leaving nothing but rapidly cooling iron at his feet and scorched stone in its wake.

Zorn smirked and called back to the prisoners. "It's time to go!"

He kept his eyes focused towards the end of the hall, only listening to the many bodies climbing up the stairs. He spared a quick glance back before motioning for them to follow him. They all moved onwards as fast as they possibly could, making less time than Zorn would have liked, leading to several encounters with guards, but they made it to the courtyard regardless.

Their savior looked across the open ground to the closed gate and shot a bolt of lightning into its epicenter, throwing it off its hinges and a good distance away from the area from what it was designed to protect. The many escapees increased their pace at the sight of freedom within their grasp, some even giving joyful shouts of excitement.

Zorn watched as each and every one of those in his group walked safely into Hyrule Field, save for one. _Oh no..._ Just as he thought this, a voice called out from a balcony above the ballroom entrance. "You! Stop where you are!"

He almost laughed out loud at the command, but kept quiet and looked to where the voice came from. Gazing down upon him was the ever infamous Lawrence Hastings, Captain of the outpost. He stood at six and a half feet in height, wearing simple battle armor, helmet included, and wielding a broadsword in his left hand. In his right, he held a bloodied woman, his sword to her neck. "I don't know why you have come and let loose all these freaks! But if you so much as take your eyes off me, I will end this one, are we clear?"

"Crystal clear." He replied. Zorn looked upon the woman, her face of fear and pain, and realized that she had been the first one he had freed, but why was she left behind? Lawrence handed her off to a guard then made his way down from the balcony until he stood directly in front of Zorn.

"Well I'll be damned," The captain started. "You're barely even a man. How old are you? Eighteen, nineteen? Or maybe you are just an old magic man?"

"Tomorrow will be twenty-one." Zorn stated.

The captain snorted. "Bullshit, I was awake when you shot that first arrow, I saw your entire infiltration, you are too skilled to be so young. My only question is why, if you have such talent, do you wait until now? You have, after all, had many nights like this, so why now?"

"That's twice I've been called a liar today," He chuckled. "Seems no one believes what they hear these days. As for why tonight, I was only just released from my studies as a Master."

"I don't believe you, but that doesn't really matter, the point is: you are very good. I have a proposition for you uh..."

"Zorn."

"Zorn, it 'tis a duel of the sword. If I win, you serve me and round up all of those prisoners you let free. If you win, you and those abominations can have a one hour head-start ahead of my men. If you don't agree, you can all die right now."

A smile slowly crept onto Zorn's face. "What makes you think you are in any position to make deals?"

"What makes you think I'm not?" Lawrence countered.

"Just curious." He replied, his smile not fading. "Alright, I guess I could humor you with a little swordplay."

The captain's brow twitched and his attitude visibly faltered for a split second before being forced back into submission, transforming Zorn's smile into an almost devilish grin. "No magic, no arrows, only melee, understood?"

"Of course."

Lawrence backed away ten paces as did Zorn, each drawing their sword and holding it at the ready. The two stared each other down from across the way, waiting for the unspoken signal for the match to begin; and as if to answer their wait, the first of many drops of rain fell, and the two immediately began circling one another.

_He certainly is confident._ Zorn thought as he waited for his opponent to attack. _Even after watching me earlier._ The distance between the two swordsmen steadily lessened over time until they were almost within arm's length. Lawrence was the first to swing, fed up with waiting for such a long time. Zorn brought his sword up and knocked away the deadly steel flying towards him, then swung back with a weak attack, simply testing the captain for the time being.

His enemy jumped away, out of the wide path of the sword. _Bad form, that one easily could have been blocked._ He watched the captain's feet as they began circling once again, waiting and watching. Lawrence awkwardly placed one foot in front of the other and tripped up over himself; seeing this, Zorn took his chance and swung his blade upwards to meet the stumbling captain's forehead.

Before the weapon collided, his opponent twisted away, apparently in control of the fall all along, and quickly lashed out at his head. Zorn ducked and kicked the captain squarely in the chest, knocking him a few feet back. He recovered quickly, swinging for Zorn's abdomen.

Zorn kicked the weapon upwards, surprising Lawrence to say the least, then smashed the hilt straight into the center of the captain's helm, denting the metal inwards. He cried out in pain, working the helmet slowly off his head until he was free, and slightly dizzy.

As the captain growled, Zorn snickered quietly to himself. _Relies on chance and surprises; fool._ With a howl of anger, Lawrence lunged forward to which Zorn easily parried. The captain spun around with the momentum already achieved, and brought his blade around into a diagonal slice. The blade was slapped away by one of his arm guards as rain began to fall a bit harder.

His opponent rolled away before lunging at him once again, trying to maintain the illusion of power with ferocity. Their two blades clashed over and over again, sending sparks through the air as their speed increased. Zorn twirled around, as if dancing, blocking nearly as much as he attacked; though with the many dizzying spins, it was hard to tell which he did more of.

Their swords collide one final time before Lawrence was knocked away with a forceful shove. The captain fell to the ground, panting like a marathon runner as rain began to pool in the corners of his eyes. He looked up to Zorn whom just stood, grinning down at where he lay.

"So does this mean I get a head start?"

Lawrence slowly stood, his breathing now beginning to settle, and motioned to the guard on the balcony. Zorn snapped his eyes upwards in time to spot the guard tightening his arm in preparation to kill. Within mere moments, Zorn knocked Lawrence back to the ground and launched a solid ball of ice as thick as a cannonball into the armored chest of the guard, sending him away from the woman. She fell to the ground without any form of support and he threw a shield around her form just before the captain was upon him once again.

With the rules no longer in play, Zorn shot his hand forward, and blasted a fireball at Lawrence, knocking him on his back. The flames licked at him for a few seconds before being extinguished by the rain. He quickly got up, and realizing that he no longer had control of the situation, he fell back on the oldest of tactics.

"All men to the courtyard!" He called out as he ran towards the door to the ballroom. Zorn grinned and threw his sword at the escaping pansy, the hilt colliding with the back of his head, sending him into the land of make believe.

**(Hello Neighbor.)**

The blades on the underside of each arm sprung open as guards began pouring into the courtyard, all armed and with eyes trained on him. Several archers took aim from balconies, as well as two magicians, the latter being the last of the group he took out earlier.

Time seemed to slow as the first archer took his shot, the arrow taking several seconds to make more than even a few feet from its original resting place. Zorn snatched the arrow from the air as it flew closer, and time resumed to its normal speed. He fired it with a blast of air back at the original owner, the shaft imbedding itself deep within his cranium.

Things quickly became a blur as the first of many swords swung towards him. He ducked underneath the first swing and stabbed in between the wielder's ribs, slicing out the back of his armor as he cut at the throat of another enemy. He butterfly kicked over a low swing and dented in the helmet of one guard, a sickening crunch resounding from the attack, before shooting several fireballs into an oncoming trio.

Zorn narrowly dodged an arrow that whizzed past his face, the tip embedding itself in a friendly target. The guard fell to the ground as another arrow shot passed Zorn, doing the same as the first. He ducked low to the ground, and sliced the backs of several guards' legs as he rolled around in a wide circle before coming up and upper-cutting another, his blade ripping out the jaw and tongue of the guard as he forcefully whipped himself around to catch a sword.

A spear of ice shot just past his nose, chilling it ever so slightly for but a moment before sticking harmlessly into the ground. Zorn shot a lightning bolt up into the wizard, the powerful attack striking true, cooking its victim in an instant as yet another arrow flew towards him, this time cutting a thin line across his cheek.

Even at the speed things were already going, it seemed to only escalate further to the point where a few lucky men landed a fairly decent punch either on his arms or back, though never anywhere else. He was sure there was going to be bruises and possibly welts, but it was nothing a little bit of magic couldn't fix in a hurry.

As their numbers began dwindling, the remaining two archers and the last magician became more of a threat, sending their projectiles down upon him nearly every time he struck down an enemy. Zorn howled in pain as one arrow finally struck home, embedding itself with his left bicep, making it almost all the way through, had it not been for the feathered tail. Gritting his teeth together, he snapped one end off and removed the wooden shaft, narrowly dodging a spear aimed at his neck.

Zorn ran for the stairs leading up to the balconies' level and launched himself at the first archer, stabbing his target in the gut before he could get another shot off at him. The other archer fired from a short distance away, the first archer providing a decent shield against the projectile. Zorn threw the meat shield at his enemy, pinning him to the ground and giving him enough time to rush over and slit the man's throat.

The intruder quickly stood back up and ran onwards towards the magician, who was firing a flurry of fireballs towards him. Zorn fought against the agonizing pain in his arms as he caught the many fireballs headed towards him, combining them all into one big blazing inferno. The magician's eyes widened and he quickly spun on his heel, sprinting away from the ball of flame that was unleashed upon him as soon as his back was turned.

As soon as the rain played its part, all that remained was a Goddess awful stench that was quickly being subdued a bit more as each droplet fell, and what seemed to be remnants of... Something...

Zorn did his best to heal up his arm before stepping to the edge of the balcony and hoping atop the railing. The remaining forces in the courtyard below looked up to where he appeared, some throwing spears at him, some running for the stairs, but all attempts to stop him were in vain. He extended one palm towards those still on the grounds and closed his eyes as he whispered: "Din's Fire."

A very small ball of light the size of a marble slowly grew in his hand, the heat building as each second passed until he had to place his other arm over his face and turn his head. The ball suddenly disappeared and all was silent. Then, as if the gates of hell had opened, the area where his hand had been pointed exploded.

The concentrated flames stayed within a perfect circle, and as quickly as they came, they vanished. Zorn opened his eyes a gazed down to the red hot ground below where his enemies had been only moments ago. The few guards that remained stared in awe before they, quietly as possible, backed down from whence they came and ran for the exit.

Zorn sighed and stepped down from the railing, then walked over to where the woman lay. He removed the shield from around her and placed a hand over some of her wounds, healing the freshest ones first. She looked up to meet his eyes, fatigue obvious on her face, and gave the best smile she possibly could.

"You saved me."

He smiled back at her, not halting the healing process. "You are worth saving, my dear."

Her eyes sparkled as she continued to smile. Zorn finished with what he could in the short amount of time he had been given to heal her, and then continued on his own arm for another minute or so before carefully lifting her into his arms and carrying her into what was left of the courtyard.

As they stepped down from the last step, Lawrence began to sit up, his hand holding the back of his head. Zorn sat the woman down up against a wall and walked over to where the pained captain sat, picking up his sword along the way.

Lawrence caught sight of all that was around him and his jaw fell limp, then he saw the intruder moving towards him and began to panic. Zorn's underarm blades slid back inside his gauntlets and he replaced his sword within its scabbard. The captain began to crawl away from him as he came closer, but was not fast enough and was snatched up by the collar.

Zorn narrowed his eyes into slits as he whipped the captain face directly in front of his own. "Now you listen to me, and listen good. The only reason I'm letting a scum bag like you live is so you can deliver a message for me, understand?"

Lawrence gulped and shakily nodded his head.

"Good. I want you to tell that swine Kabalstin that I will follow through with the promise I made him; tell him Zorn is coming for his head!" As he finished, he threw the captain the ground and walked back to the Zora - Hylian without another word. He picked her up and sparing no more time within the outpost, he left.

**

* * *

**

Zorn led the group of Hybrids, after finding where they had all gone, to Kakariko Village, where he made sure they were all well fed and cared for. The owner of the local Inn was kind enough to offer them all shelter, however cramped it was, until they were all well enough to fend for themselves.

Several Hybrids were strong enough upon their arrival to not require care, and quickly found ways to help those still in need. It brought a smile to Zorn's face to see them all free. Though he had fought Kabalstin's forces in the past, this had been the first large outpost, as well as the first inhabited by prisoners.

Though he wanted to stay longer and make sure for himself that everything went according to plan, he had a previous agenda already rolling along. As morning grew closer, he made his way up to the graveyard; He had slept all of the day before and still had the energy to continue on until night fell once again. He had planned everything down to the letter for the prior night so that this day would be perfect, so that his time with _her_ would be perfect.

Zorn grinned madly and his cheeks flushed at the thought; today was the day. He made his way through the hole on the far side of the graveyard and hopped into the pool of water once on the other side. He swam down to the bottom and let the water carry him through the tunnel on the northern wall.

Darkness followed soon after he was pulled through, and he could only feel how fast he moved through the tunnel. Before long, he was greeted by the morning sun coming up just over the horizon as he was dumped into the crisp waters of Lake Hylia. His senses were alive as the cool water hit him, like one of Darunia's left hooks, and took the most calming of "Breathes" he had in years.

There was something magical about the water here, when compared the rivers and ponds he had to deal with over the last few years, it was like the contrast of pure vanilla and sweaty undergarments. But what made it all even better was what was waiting for him at the bottom of the lake.

Zorn quickly swam down to the crater at the bottom and found the vent to The Water Temple. He quickly swam through it and broke free into the temple only seconds later. He jumped to the center tower and ran to the left, then jumped across to a door and burst through it. As he had when he was younger, he continued onwards until reaching the room with the dead tree in it. As before, the door behind him was blocked almost immediately by bars that slid into place.

Zorn stepped forward into the water, crossed to the other side of the "room" then spun around, and as expected, there stood a shadow at the base of the tree.

"It's been a long time, Zorn." The Shadow said. "I was beginning to think you were going to leave her to herself, but every time I would say something, she would scold me and say: He promised, and if I know him, he will return."

The Shadow pushed himself off the tree and walked towards him. "Seems she was right, and thank the Goddesses!" It threw up its hands. "With only me to talk to, you would think she would change the topic every once in awhile!"

Zorn smiled at his doppelganger and shook his head. "It's good to see you again."

The Dark One smiled, which was rather frightening with the sharpened teeth. "You too, Zorn, but enough of this idle chatter, I know why you're here, and I'm guessing you wanted to surprise her by being there when she wakes up so I won't hold you here any longer."

The bars on the doors slid up and the endless fog around them faded until they were in a true room.

"Thanks, er..." Zorn realized that he had never actually know The Shadow's name and felt a little embarrassed by the lack of knowledge.

"Enki." The Shadow filled in for him.

"Enki, thank you Enki." Zorn turned towards _her_ door and slowly entered, being sure to keep silent. He looked to her bed as the door opened enough for him to slip through but found the blankets pulled back and empty. His heart plummeted and he let the door open itself the rest of the way, his hand unable to keep a grip. "I'm too late..."

Enki chuckled from behind him. "No you aren't."

Zorn turned around, a confused expression spread across his face. "What?"

"She only comes in here during the day, usually just to get something. She spends the rest of her time in your old room."

* * *

As Zorn stood in front of the door that had been his for a large portion of his life, his heart pounded madly within his chest, threatening to break free. He slowly turned the handle and pushed the door open. His breath caught in his throat as his eyes caught sight of her form, asleep, in _his_ bed. Why she was there, he couldn't begin to fathom, the same going for the unbelievable feelings flowing through him.

All he could think as he stood there was how beautiful she looked; it was like nothing else in the world. Before he knew exactly what he was doing, he had quietly closed the door and was walking over to the right side of the bed. He carefully sat down on the side of the bed, making sure he didn't send too much motion through the bed, and just looked at her.

He couldn't believe he was here, after such a long time, home. All he had done since he left in his spare time was think about what it would be like to come back. And all seemed too good to be true. But as those deep purple eyes fluttered open, time stood still. What was real and what wasn't no longer held significance.

All that mattered now were the eyes of a Goddess, staring deep into his own, and the smile that sent him to Heaven then brought him back.

* * *

**I'm sorry this as taken so long, there has been a lot going on. I hope this chapter was worth the wait, I worked really really hard on it. I think I rewrote it three times just so I was sure everything sounded right. Oh and Hello Neighbor is a reference to Mister Rogers. I'll update again as soon as I can, I promise!**

**The Sage of Water,**

**~ConGie**


	8. Chapter 8

Lake Hylia glistened brightly as the morning sun's rays filtered itself across the land, providing heat to all whom inhabited Hyrule. The day's usual business swiftly began, instantly requiring the time of many beings until dusk, when they were set free of work. But for a duo recently reunited, this was not the case. Deep beneath the surface of the lake's shimmering waters, an intense game of tag was at hand.

Ruto spun to the side, narrowly dodging a magically induced current of water before casting her own and blasting away from her pursuer. Zorn spun through the center of the current, his speed unhindered in the slightest, and shot himself forward with another blast of water. He was soon trailing close behind his target, a smirk growing on his face as she came within his reach.

His hand grazed her foot and within a blink of an eye, their positions switched. Ruto spun around in an instant and began chasing Zorn in the opposite direction. Both wore brightly lit smiles as they flew through the water at high speeds, weaving this way and that between rocks and marine plants.

Zorn looked back and smirked at the Sage of Water before suddenly heading for the surface. Ruto changed course at an equal speed, easily keeping up with her ex-student as he neared open air. Moments later, he burst forth from the lake, and using a wind spell, launched himself high into the air, far from where he emerged.

Not long after, Ruto too broke through the surface. Upon seeing her target falling back towards the lake, she hauled herself atop of the water and ran across its surface in his direction. Zorn howled in excitement as the wind rushed around him, whipping both his hair and clothing about in an unceremonious manner.

He hit the water with a great splash and began swimming towards the Water Temple with his already gained speed. Ruto dove into the water not long after he and swam as quickly as she could to catch up. As they neared the bottom, Zorn readied himself to create a current that would come from behind her, something she wouldn't be able to dodge until it was too late.

With the magic coursing through him, he held on until the last possible moment, then released his power into the water. Ruto was soon swept into the current which carried her form to the floor, and held her there as Zorn swam back towards the surface. He emerged onto a small island near the waterfall just as he felt the magic holding Ruto let up.

He stood in the middle of the small island for several long moments, muscles tense in anticipation, before she burst forth from the water, flying in his direction. He immediately dropped to the ground, allowing her to safely pass over him and land back in the water on the other side. The young man smiled, knowing full well that she could easily tag him here, but that's what made it fun.

Ruto once again flew through air towards him, arms open for the catch, but was knocked back with a small gust of wind. "HEY!" She cried out before hitting the water. The Sage glared at him from her position. "That's not fair!"

"Fair?" He chuckled, quoting what she had said to him in the past. "Who said any of this was fair?"

She submerged again, a scowl upon her face. Ruto tried several more times from several different directions, using some of her own magic in various ways to try and catch him, but each and every time he somehow managed to either dodge, or knock her away.

She ducked beneath the water one more time, her eyes glaring daggers at him, much to his amusement. Zorn gasped a few moments later as he felt the ground he was standing on encase his legs in thin stone. He immediately began to break as much of it as he could off, which succeeded in doing rather quickly, but wasn't fast enough to get away from the triumphant Zora headed towards him.

She collided with him and their bodies hit the water with a loud splash, spraying fine mist high up into the air. Ruto giggled before swimming away, leaving him disoriented and at a loss for words._ That was smart!_ He thought, before taking off in the direction she had gone.

She led him through the lake as if she didn't even need to have her eyes open, making every movement precise, elegant, and dangerous in its own magnificent way. As time progressed, he realized that it was getting harder to keep up with her; each kick weighing heavier on his muscles than the last. With determination in his eyes, he pressed onward with all his strength, inching closer and closer as each second ticked by.

Ruto's eyes widened as she felt a hand grasp her ankle and pull her backwards. Zorn quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and laughed as he caught sight of her expression.

"What's so funny?" She asked, her cheeks becoming a light shade of pink. She hid her face as best she could in their close proximity, which was difficult to say the least.

"Just your reaction, did you not think I was going to catch you?"

"Well, no, I just wasn't expecting you to do this." She motioned to his arm around her waist. "Speaking of which, why did you do this?"

Zorn let her go with a smile and she turned around to face him as he spoke. "Now we are both it, and not it, at the same time!"

Ruto rolled her eyes. "You never did grow up, did you?"

"Hey, you agreed to play so you can't say that."

With her hands on her hips, she shook her head and focused her eyes elsewhere, though what he said was true, she was just as childish as he.

* * *

Zorn strolled through the entryway to Castle Town with a skip in step and a twinkle in his eye; the first thing he had planned was over, which meant he had to prepare for the next one, the third would have to be taken care of later. Bystanders stared at him as he passed, his whistle attracting the eyes of more as the others looked away in what seemed like disgust. He didn't understand why they couldn't be happy like he was, but it didn't really matter, it was their loss after all.

As he passed through the square with the fountain, he noticed on his left a 'For Sale' sign in front of cafe'. That had been his father's shop, where he sold exotic fruit drinks, an endless variety of pastries, and other sweet treats. His father only made the drinks, the local baker and candy-man had provided the rest in hopes of higher sales.

Zorn halted then turned towards the building and walked over to its sign. It wasn't terribly priced, which brought him great surprise, for this was a rather large establishment. He shook his head before walking away, though not without locking what he'd seen in his mind for later, and headed for the southern region of Castle Town.

He perused amongst the many stalls filled with fruits, vegetables, clothing, drinks, bread, and many other things, gathering up whatever he would need for a picnic along the way. Before long, his arms had been filled with food, though it was short lived as he had picked out a nicely woven basket that had a double hatch lid not long after his arms met their limit.

With his food loaded into the carrying apparatus, he searched the stalls for a simple blanket, or a tarp of some sort. It didn't take long to find a red and white blanket that was sturdy enough to withstand what he required, and from the looks of it, he may have just found himself a traveling blanket as well for the nights he would spend on the cold ground in front of a fire.

With the supplies for the second act of the day in hand, he strolled out the southern gate. He quickly made his way down the stone steps of the elegant entryway then made his way towards the edge of a the cliff side overlooking Lake Hylia. Without a second thought, he jumped off the edge, making sure to hold on tightly to his recently gathered supplies and to hold the lid to the basket shut as he fell.

Closer and closer the lake's surface became until he cast a wind spell to combat his rapid descent. As he slowed, he redirected himself away from the water to a patch of land next to the waterfall. Zorn landed with a thud that send a shock wave up his legs, but with how fast he was falling, a jolt was always welcome in the place of a splat.

The young man set his load down and spread out the blanket across the grass, then moved the basket diagonally onto the blanket at one of the corners, pining the blanket to the ground. After the quick set up, he dove into the lake and swam into its depths, where the Water Temple lay nestled in the rock. As he neared, a certain Zora looked up from where she lay on the lake floor, her legs crossed and her hands behind her head.

"I take it you are done with whatever you needed to do?" She asked.

Zorn smiled and nodded his head before extending a hand out to The Sage. She took it and was lifted up, though he didn't let go. She looked down at their interlaced fingers before looking back up to him, his smile still present. He gently pulled her upwards as he swam towards the surface, she began swimming with him soon after, but still, their hands did not part.

The duo broke free from the liquid's grasp and he led Ruto over to the blanket set out for them. He looked over at her and saw that her face had lit up and she was grinning from one ear to the other. "Oh, aren't you sweet, a picnic!" She cooed.

He grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "I would say 'Anything for you' but you and I both know how cheesy that is."

She giggled and he felt his heart leap in excitement as the two sat down. When he was younger, that feeling had always confused him; however, since his talk with Darunia, he wasn't exactly as innocent as he used to be. Zorn, of course, hadn't told him that he had felt those feelings for anyone in particular during 'The Talk', but from the look the Goron had given him... It was best not to dwell on that thought, he would never be able find out if Darunia knew anything or not anyways.

"So, what do you have prepared for us?" Ruto asked.

"Well, I got-" He started as he sat up, letting go of her hand in the process as to better rummage through the basket. Ruto suddenly felt very cold. She hadn't even realized the effect of just holding his hand had on her until now, but that's what made it so terrible; she had never once experienced something like this.

"You feelin' okay?" Zorn asked, a red apple, blade, and jar of peanut butter in hand.

Ruto shook her head to refocus her thoughts before replying. "Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing, it doesn't matter." She feigned a smile. "Would you like some grilled fish to go along with what you've got? I can go get some really quick."

"Oh, how about I go catch some fish and you prepare the apples, okay?"

She nodded and was handed the food in his hands before he dove back into the lake. As she waited for his return, she carefully sliced the apple in to four equal pieces, grabbing another from the basket as each one was finished. Ruto couldn't help but let her mind refocus on what had just transpired. It was like something had clicked on within her when he grabbed her hand and slowly built up, then released so suddenly when he let go that she felt almost dizzy.

After finishing the last apple, she opened the jar of peanut butter and began to smear some onto each piece of apple._ Why him? _She wondered. _Better yet, why now? Why not when this is all over, when things might actually work? The Goddesses usually rewarded their chosen ones should they desire a reward, what if he were to choose to live forever too? Wait... What Am I thinking? Why would I want him to?_

Her mind whirled with confusion and disbelief. A part of her knew very well what she felt, while another denied it entirely. One part wanted to just tell him and hope for the best, the other part wanted to know what to tell him, and why.

"Are you sure you're okay? 'Cause you don't exactly look it." Zorn's voice broke her out of her inward trance.

"U-h, yes, I'm fine, really." She stuttered.

The young man looked at her skeptically, but sat down either way with the two fish he'd caught. With a quick spell, a grill made of stone formed just outside the reach of the blanket, to which he laid the fish atop. He looked over to Ruto again after creating a blue flame underneath the fish to find that she was once again in deep thought, but what bothered him was how sad she looked.

Her face seemed darker, like a cloud had blocked out the rays of the sun around her, and her alone. As bad as he wanted to know what was bothering her, she had said it didn't matter, which, according to Darunia, means 'there is something very wrong, but I want to deal with it alone.' So, he decided it would be better to just cheer her up.

"Hey, Ruto?" Zorn tried, keeping his voice soft, not wanting to seem too pushy. She looked up to him with those breath taking eyes of hers, a glint of light sparkling within her iris. "Smile for me."

Just as before, her face brightened almost instantly, the world glowing brighter along with her. Ruto couldn't understand how three simple words could make her feel so happy so quickly, but they did nonetheless. Zorn grinned back at her, happy that it had worked like last time. Then, an awful stench filled his nose.

Ruto howled laughter as her ex-student scrambled so quickly to remove the burning fish, that he burnt himself on the heated rock. He hissed in pain, though held firmly onto the thoroughly cooked fish. "It's not funny, that hurt!"

"Yeah it is!" Ruto continued to laugh.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Would you stop rolling around like that!"

But Ruto couldn't help herself. The man that was so precise in everything he did, whether it be shooting an arrow or swinging a sword, burnt himself in a panicked rush to save slightly overcooked fish. She stopped rolling around after a few minutes and remained still, though small chuckles here and there made her body bounce ever so slightly.

Zorn crossed his arms and waited patiently until she had calmed down before shaking his head in annoyance. "You done?"

* * *

All was silent within Zora's Domain as Twilight began to fade over the horizon. The gentle twinkling of Golden Fireflies along with the few crickets in the area created an atmosphere of peace as the many waterfalls within the area added to night's ambiance.

Two figures swam within the depths of the domain from where the water formed into a river, their movements silent and swift. They each climbed up onto dry land opposite to the Mother and Child rocks, any sound made was masked by the falls around them. The duo jogged up to a rock face covered in vines and quickly climbed up.

Once up, they made their way silently as possible up the winding pathways that led to an alcove, high in the domain's walls. Archways lined the open side of the alcove in an elegant display of artistic finesse and craftsmanship, though neither paid any attention to such details and instead continued onwards.

They stopped just outside the entrance to the royal chambers, where the rest of the population also slept. "I'm starting to have second thoughts here, does it have to be this shield specifically?" Zorn asked.

"Yes, it does." his feminine companion replied.

"But, it feels wrong to take it from them." He shuffled his feet while scratching the back of his head.

"You aren't taking it from them, it was a gift from Zelda on my seventeenth birthday, and now I'm giving it to you."

He frowned, but nodded anyways and let her lead him into the royal chamber. With more caution than before, the duo crept into the room, taking each footstep as if it were their last. They neared a pool in the center of the room and Ruto pointed to its bottom where a gleaming shield lay in wait, securely fasted to the center of the rock floor.

With a sigh, he silently slipped into the water and let gravity pull him downwards towards his prize. He looked around as he sunk, seeing a hoard of Zora asleep on the many ledges that lined the pool's walls. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he landed atop the shield. His hands reached around, the sound of blood flowing rapidly in his ears, and carefully unfastened a leather like strap that held the shield in place.

He heard a click as the shield lifted free and froze, waiting for someone to stir, but all was silent. Zorn carefully hung the shield on his scabbard with a small hook like contraption that Ruto had fastened into the sheath before deciding to come here. The young man gently pushed off the floor and began floating upwards; slower than he normally would with the extra weight, but he was sure it would not bother him for long.

Ruto helped him climb free from the pool when he emerged, this time, making far more noise than when he had entered. A head suddenly popped up from the water before ducking back under, but not before seeing the shield strapped to Zorn's back.

"I think we had best be leaving." Ruto stated calmly as she began to pull at his sleeve. Zorn looked back just as a magnitude of Zora began breaking the water's surface, all armed with knives and sharp sticks. The two broke into a run towards the waterfall, angry voices coming to life not far behind them as they went.

Despite the situation, the duo found themselves smiling, finding the predicament to be more fun than life threatening. They soon closed in on the waterfall's edge and, with a whoop of excitement, the two launched themselves out into the open air.

The wind whipped at them as they fell, bringing on an adrenaline rush as their insides seemed to become weightless from the speed of their drop. Zorn was first to hit the water who began swimming immediately after being enveloped within the liquid's grasp, Ruto not far behind.

Ruto felt the shock waves of many bodies hitting the water behind them, but a plan had already formulated in her head. "Zorn, you go down the waterway to Castle Town, but stay low to the ground so the filter can catch you, then swim back up to the Fishing Hole, got it?"

"Where's the Fishing Hole?" Came his reply, though it was muffled slightly by the rapid flow of water up ahead.

"We're headed right for it."

Ruto suddenly swerved away from him, leaving him to the small army of Zora. Doing as she had said, he sped up just as he made a tight turn towards a tunnel lined with man-made stone, torches lining the walls above the water.

Zorn looked back, though could only just barely see the lead Zora on his tail in the dark water of the tunnel. He spun his head back around just in time to see a fast approaching wooden barrier at the bottom that spanned from either wall. Without so much as a moment of hesitation, he shot straight down before colliding with the barrier.

It was almost humorous watching the many armed soldiers wash away with the current, unable to change direction quickly enough. Not wanting to leave Ruto alone for too long, he cupped his hands together before thrusting them forward. The water curved out around him, leaving a dead zone, free of current around himself.

Now entirely unaffected by the rushing water, Zorn swam back from where the tunnel had began. It took several minutes, but he was soon back at the sort of crossroad where he and Ruto had parted ways. He climbed up onto dry land, opposite to the tunnel, and looked around for anything could possibly be classified as a 'Fishing Hole', but found none.

He walked up and around a small ridge until his vision overlooked the area. Built into the hard rock was a plain and simple door, a sign just next to it that read 'Fishing Hole'. Seeing this, he opened the door and found himself mouth agape as he stared out at what he had thought was going to be a simple pond, but it was far more grand than that.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Ruto asked as she approached him from the side. "I sometimes wish I had known about this place when I decided where to re-place the Water Temple."

"I don't blame you..." Zorn mumbled, still gazing out in blissful trance at the pink trees in perfect contrast with dark waters that sparkled beneath the night sky. She found herself staring up at him, his face against the night sky giving him an almost other worldly look; with the color of his skin, it wasn't really all that surprising, but that didn't diminish the fact either.

Ruto quickly looked away as her thoughts began to wander a possible future, one that she didn't yet want to even let herself consider. He noticed her sudden movement and looked over, though she hid her emotions far better than earlier, all he saw was a smile. "How long do you think we should stay here before it's safe to head back?"

"I'm not sure." She shrugged.

Zorn looked back out on the water, his vision catching sight of a shack as he turned his head. He took a deep breath, letting it slowly seep out, before walking in the opposite direction of the shack. Ruto took notice and followed him as he walked out around the water until they crossed a bridge, only going a bit further before he sat down, removed his equipment, and lay his back against the rock.

Ruto carefully sat next to him, keeping a few inches distance between them. She looked up to the sky and gave a yawn upon seeing the moon within the center of the sky, and stretched her arms high above her head. Zorn chuckled. "Is the great Sage of Water ready for a nap?"

"Oh shut up, you'll be yawning soon too."

Zorn smirked to himself and continued watching the stars. The two sat in silence as the moon continued its trek across the sky to the horizon. Suddenly he felt a weight fall onto his shoulder, and looked over to find that within the time they had spent here, she scooted closer until their arms touched without his notice; and had fallen asleep on him.

She shivered slightly and her body pulled her legs in, attempting to keep itself warmer. Being the man that he was, he carefully pulled his tunic off himself and draped it the best he could over her form. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. In response to his kindness, she curled up closer to him, and subconsciously draped her arm across his chest.

His cheeks flushed bright red, though he pushed through the haze of thoughts and focused on just keeping her warm by wrapping both his arms around her and holding her to him as a small gust of wind rushed past them. Zorn flinched against the cold until it passed, then relaxed, letting himself fall into a calmer state. He knew there was no going back tonight, he didn't have the heart to wake the sleeping Zora, so instead, he gently lay his head atop hers and let the darkness that had been at the edge of his mind take over; allowing sleep to claim him.

* * *

**Chapter 9 is in the works right now, please be patient =)**

**The Sage of Water,  
~ConGie **


	9. Chapter 9

As the months went on, Zorn spent his days either with Ruto, happily playing childish games, or attacking the small caravans transporting Hybrids on their way to be tortured into 'submission'. That's what the Hunters called it anyways, but it was really just their sick way of saying 'death'. On one such attack, he had been just outside the southern gate to the market and had been blasted by a magician into the crater that happened to lead to where the Zora river emptied into Lake Hylia; but instead of hitting water, he hit a ledge.

At first, he hadn't thought anything of it and just launched himself back up, showing no mercy to the Hunters. As he released the Hybrids however, it dawned on him that he hadn't been hurt when he landed, something having stopped his fall instead. So, he went back down to investigate, and found the plant that his father had used to make that juice so many desired to be on their tables.

With looted rupees and fake name in hand, he bought the old cafe' and started his own business called: "**Ruzota**". Not many customers came in at first but given some time, he soon had a full force of employees and a line of customers stretching all the way to the Church of Hyrule in the busiest time of the day.

As soon as his business was underway, Zorn had gone back to attacking Kabalstin's forces and brought justice to nearly all of the many encampments inhabited by the Hybrid Hunters. Things were truly beginning to look up; for everyone except the ever elusive hero that is. Even with all he had accomplished, the faces of the dead and tortured haunted him through the long, dark nights, waking him long before dawn.

Eventually, it got so bad that he wasn't sleeping, and was instead spending the night awake with Enki. Zorn was surprised to find that the shadow had once been alive, but was put to death by an ancient people known as the Sheikah, for his experiments upon living subjects. He had cast one last dark spell before his execution had been carried out, giving him his current form.

Zorn wondered for a long time afterword if Ruto knew the past of her guardian... She must, considering how long he could have been here. One night, Enki went into detail about one of the experiments which left him gagging and worse off than before, so he decided it would be best not to talk to the shadow for awhile.

He later came to Ruto for help, knowing a spell to induce dreamless sleep but unable to cast it upon himself. It was the first time in a long time that he'd made it through the night and awoken with energy to spare. It was a good thing too, seeing as the last known outpost was to be raided today...

* * *

The sun slowly climbed over the horizon as the new day began with the crow of a cuckoo, its bright cheer signaling for a shift change amongst the guards of the outpost. Zorn silently climbed the stone walls, careful to keep the reflection of his shield from reaching the eyes of those on lookout. Usually, he would have already begun a battle, but had decided to be as stealthy as possible this time around, as to better ensure the survival of those whom he released.

He hopped over the wall and quickly dove into a wooden door nearby. Once inside, he found himself in a corridor with lush red carpet that stretched from the door he had just used to enter, to a T up ahead that continued on straight as well as to the left.

With the lightest steps he could manage, Zorn came up to the left turn and peered around the corner. His eyes found one guard, luckily for him, with his back turned to the vigilante. Not wanting the opportunity to pass him by, he quickly ran up behind the guard and before he could react, brought one of his underarm blades to the guard's throat.

"Where are they?" Zorn growled into the man's ear.

The man nearly jumped into the blade from fright and immediately began trembling. "W-who?"

"The Hybrids! Who else do you think I would be here for?" He pressed the blade a little harder against his neck.

"T-the head-master k-keeps them in his personal study, two floors up!"

"How do I get there from here?"

"Turn around, go left, up the stairwell, through the door, down the corridor, first door on the right."

"Good, thank you."

"W-what are you going to d-do with me?"

"I'm going to give you two options; you can go warn everyone I'm here, or you can leave, quickly and quietly. I cannot promise your fate should you decide to warn your peers however, choose wisely..."

With that said, the blade left his windpipe and the intruder was gone before he could even turn around.

Zorn quickly made his way down the hall, still keeping his steps light in case he ran into anyone else. He made his way up the stairwell and just as he was nearing the door that led to the floor his targets' inhabited, the door swung open to reveal a small group of guards. They didn't take notice of him right away however, to which he rather speedily took advantage of.

The intruder sliced through the first guard with his underarm blades, and knocked back the four remaining, two of which tripped over their own feet. He made quick work of the two while they were down, slicing open their gullets in unison; the remaining two standing in utter shock, though it was short lived, and were soon charging him.

Zorn round-housed one in the face and dodged the other all in one fluid motion, a wet snap resounding from the guard he had kicked. The remaining guard was unable to slow his momentum and smacked into the wall with a loud clang. Zorn spun around and stabbed through the man's armor into his ribs, earning a short lived cry that was silenced by the other blade sliding into the side of his neck.

The intruder dropped the slowly dying man to the ground and let him writhe in pain as his blood slowly drained free of his body, leaving Zorn to continue down the hallway uninterrupted. About halfway down the hall, he came upon a door on his right, just as the guard had said.

Zorn ever so quietly turned the door handle and stepped inside. The room was small, a fireplace, desk, and bookshelf being the furnishings along with a mattress on the far wall. There was another door on the far right side of the room that almost seemed to beckon him, to which he responded to by walking to its face and pushing it open. He gagged as the room's stench caught him off-guard with a powerful blast of rot that he could nearly taste just by taking a breath.

It took him a minute to steady himself, but eventually the intruder looked up from the ground, though he kept his shirt to his mouth in hopes of keeping whatever sort of viruses in the air from entering his lungs. To his right, in the center of the room, lay a table covered in leather straps, it's color a deep maroon from it's obvious over-use. Behind the table, up on the wall, many torture devices, some of... a sensual nature, hung on an old rusted rack; beneath said rack lay six horrendously maimed, rotting corpses.

Zorn turned his head away in disgust, but what his eyes found instead very well could have been worse. Three cages were built into the wall opposite to the torture rack, housing a variety of hybrids, six persons per cell. Their bones were easily visible through the variously colored skins each Hybrid wore, signaling malnutrition, and in some cases stuck through the skin in horrendously painful looking breaks.

There were no sounds other than very light, raged breaths as he stood in horror before their unconscious forms, slowly losing his ability to contain his rage.

"Quite disgusting, aren't they?" A voice suddenly broke the silence. Zorn whirled around, sword and shield in hand instantaneously, to find that in the doorway stood an elegantly dressed man, his silken robes pulled up above his ankles in hopes of keeping the trim from resting upon the germ infested floor. "Organisms such as these should never have come into existence, their very air contaminates our world with un-holy plagues of darkness, in quantities to which shall never be conceived within mortal minds."

Zorn could feel the leather around his knuckles begin to tighten as his fists clenched tighter around his weapon the longer this man spoke. Against all better judgment however, he was able to calm himself enough to lower his guard, as a plan began to form "I agree; I'm sorry, but I have just arrived today, what is your name, sir?"

The man bowed ever so slightly, almost willing Zorn to sever his self righteous head from its shoulders. "My name is Count Homunculus, I am in charge of this facility until a new Head-Master is appointed."

"Oh, I see, what happened to the Head-Master?"

"Old age I'm afraid; 'tis a tragedy, he had such a passion for the hunt." The Count said with a hint of longing in his voice.

"That's too bad, I regret not being able to make his acquaintance." Several of Hybrids began to stir as their conversation continued, fear immediately taking place within their eyes as their minds processed what had awoken them.

"Well, since you are new, I believe it is safe to assume you have never been part of the daily beatings?"

Zorn's eye nearly twitched as he heard how often torture took place, but he held his composure all the same. "No, I'm afraid I have yet to do so; that's actually why I had come here, but I couldn't find a key to the cells. You wouldn't happen to have one, would you?" He could hear the few Hybrids whom had awoken begin to shuffle as their breath quickened.

The Count chuckled. "Of course, let me slip into something other than sleep-wear and I shall join you." Homunculus spun on his heels before exiting into the office behind him. "You actually woke me up when you came in, but you seemed so focused, I don't think you noticed me."

"No, I'm afraid I didn't, I apologize sir."

"No need, you're new here; and besides, I wouldn't miss a beating for anything in the world." His voice called from the other room. When he returned, the Count was dressed in a simple leather pad armored suit, it too was stained red and was probably the only common suit the man owned. "Let us close the door so we won't be disturbed," Homunculus said as he closed the door to the study behind him. "the other soldiers love to join in on the fun when the screams start."

Zorn watched as the count pulled a key from the front pocket on the armor and began walking towards the cells. "Though they have been less focused on beatings lately, no thanks to this 'Zorn' character showing up and causing all this havoc; I guess it is a good thing today however, they won't likely bother us." He paused for a moment, looking back and forth at his victims, unable to make a choice. "I can't decide, how about you pick, uh... What is your name?"

"It's Zorn," The Intruder said, and smashed the Count's temple into the bars of the cages, earning a cry of pain from his target, then grabbed his collar and slammed him down onto the torture table, quickly strapping the man into place. "and I pick you."

Homunculus was dazed and confused, but from the shock on his face, Zorn felt satisfaction in knowing his victim understood what had been said. "Wait! Please, release me!"

Zorn grabbed up the cell keys that had fallen to the floor during the commotion and unlocked each cell from left to right. "Why should I? You think so poorly of my race, of me, why should I show you any kindness in return for your cruelty?"

"I can pay you, however much you want, you could be a rich man!" The Count's voice had gone into a hysterical plead that cracked with fear.

"I am already a rich man, by my standards at-least. I am savior to these people, I give them hope, that is the greatest wealth I shall ever know." By now, the Hybrids had fully awoken and were carefully opening the cell doors; all of those whom could stand that is.

A man from the cell on the left looked in shock from Zorn to Homunculus, then back to Zorn before rushing forward and embracing him. "Thank you, warrior." The man cried as the Intruder wrapped his arms around the man.

"You need not thank me, we are but brothers in the same storm, and I won't leave anyone behind." The man had tears in his eyes as he backed away, a smile clearly on his face. "Now, I have spent a good deal longer than I had originally planned, but we may still have a chance to get you all out safely-"

There was a knock on the door. "Permission to enter, sir?"

"Sound the alarm!" The Count cried just before Zorn planted his fist deep within the man's gut, earning him a deep grunt. The damage had already been done however, as running footsteps and clanking armor could be heard quickly moving away from the door.

"I take that back, lock and barricade the office door after I leave, I shall return once I've dealt with all the guards." Zorn quickly moved towards the door and unlocked it before handing the keys to the man he had embraced and rushing into the office.

"But there are hundreds of them!" One of the women protested. "We would have a better chance of survival if we all ran!"

"No we wouldn't," Came a weak, feminine voice from the other room. "He has saved me before, we can trust in his abilities, I assure you."

Zorn wanted to see whom had spoken, but every second wasted in this room was precious time the hybrids could use to seal themselves inside. He burst through the door and slammed it behind him, taking off to his right upon catching the glint of armor in the corner of his eye.

"There he is!" One of the guards called out as the Intruder tore free his sword and shield. The guards immediately stopped upon seeing that their opponent did not slow, and drew their own weapons. With a heated cry, Zorn rushed forward and brought his blade down onto the first guard's shoulder, cleanly severing the arm before he knocked the screaming guard into several of his comrades.

Without missing a beat, he brought up his sword to parry a strike from his right before smashing his shield into his opponent's face, effectively denting in the thick steel helm; blood poured from the man's face as he fell to the ground. The intruder swung at his next enemy and slashed deep into the man's gut before wrenching it free to counter another guard's swing. He quickly kicked away his adversary just in time to block a strike from one of the guards that had been knocked down by the dismembered man's body earlier.

Zorn knocked the blade aside with his shield and buried his sword into the man's chest before slicing the jugular of another in one feral swoop then spun to catch the blade of another with his wrist guard. He forced his opponents weapon to the ground before bringing the hilt up to the guard's gullet and smashing it inwards. He fell back in pain and writhed upon the floor, desperately clawing at his throat in an attempt to open his wind pipe before falling silent.

The intruder spun around to find more guards rushing in from behind and could hear more coming up the stairway from behind him. Zorn replaced his sword and shield with his prized bow and quickly knocked an arrow. Lancing it with a magical flame, he loosed it into the first guard to come up the stairs, an explosion of flames blasting outwards and burning not only one, but several enemies at once.

He spun around just in time to loose another flaming arrow into a second group as they entered the hallway, their cries nothing but sweet music to his ears. The intruder closed his bow and brought his sword back out to bear before launching himself down from the balcony not far from the Head-Master's quarters to the court-yard below where he rolled to a stand-point.

"He's in the court-yard!" A voice rang out.

Zorn took a deep breath and cleared his mind as they began to pour in from the many doors and hallways until he was surrounded indefinitely.

"Give up, you're surrounded!" One armor clad man commanded as he strode forward in front of the rest. His armor was different than the rest, being slightly more reflective along with a subtle, gold trim running along the length of the suit.

"Take your men and leave." Zorn spoke with indifference, ignoring what he had said.

"Drop your weapons!" The man raised his blade.

The Intruder raised an eye brow in mild surprise, for none had ever reacted this way with his presence before, but it wasn't something he felt like looking into at the moment. With a flick of his wrist, the man was alight with flames, screaming and fumbling around like a cuckoo with its head cut off.

"Kill Him! KILL HIM!" The many surrounding bodies nearly all ran forward at the same time as their commander fell silent, save for the cackling flames licking at his corpse. Zorn waited until they were nearly upon him before spinning in a full circle, releasing a powerful blast of magic that launched the first wave of enemies skyward. The attack gave him more than enough time to recover before the next wave was within reach.

**(NEXT)**

The few standing Hybrids quickly moved everything within the office to the door after their savior ran through, slamming the door behind him. Not long after they had finished, the sounds of the battle raging outside began to filter through the wood and stone that made up their confines. Whereas most people would find the screams and what not to be frightening, the Hybrids basked in them, happy their enemies were given what they deserved.

However, amongst the group, there was but one that did not share the hate; one whose mind was of a youthful age. "Mommy, what's happening? What's going on out there?" It was the daughter of a Goron-Hylian mother whom had spoken.

"The Man I told you about is here, he's come to set us free." The mother's weak voice answered. Unlike her daughter, whom had avoided any sort of beatings, she herself was covered in welts and bruises as well as a number of lacerations. Her breath was slow, shallow, and somewhat labored due to these injuries; some being infected.

The little girl violently coughed, spitting up a small amount of blood before she lay up against her mother's chest as silent and still as she had been for so long. The girl's condition was getting worse as the days rolled by; and the mother had counted them, until she had gone past the day of assured recover, and then some. While the men here had not laid a hand on her, the festering infections all around her had proved to be all too much for her small body.

The mother herself knew there was little hope of either of them surviving at this point, but did nothing to diminish the child's hopes. Her time was far shorter than her daughter's; the infected lacerations had been left to feed for far too long, even now she could feel her story coming to a close.

"So who is this guy? You said he saved you before." The woman who had been in the cell beside theirs asked.

"His name is Zorn, he is a Hybrid like us; he's the one who's been going around Hyrule and freeing everyone like us."

"That was him? I thought someone with such a reputation would be so much older, and maybe not so short." The woman chuckled. "When did he save you?"

"It was almost seven years ago, just before I had Lucy; I had been found in Kakariko and was being taken to the block but he intervened. I didn't think he could beat so many people without so much as even breaking a sweat, but he took on nearly everyone in the village, and let them live."

"But he looks so young, he couldn't have been more than a teenager then!"

The mother nodded as much as her pained body would allow. "He was fifteen when I first met him. We actually became rather good friends until he left a year later, I don't know what for though, he never told me."

"Do you think he would remember you after all these years?"

"No, he's probably met every Hybrid in Hyrule by now, why would he remember just one?"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Alright, they're all dead you can let me in now." came Zorn's voice through the door. The Hybrids in the study immediately began pulling away all the furniture then opened the door when the way was clear.

The intruder was covered in small cuts, but for the most part had gone unscathed, save for a laceration down his left arm. "Thank you." He said to the ones who had opened the door for him, leaving it open to vent the air in the room as he strode further in.

The mother could see Homunculus begin to squirm upon the table as Zorn entered, the leather tying him down groaned in protest to his efforts. "Don't be afraid, Count, you will live beyond today." At that, he stopped resisting as much as he had against the straps, but fear still radiated from him all the same.

"I need you to do two things for me: I need you to give me all the information you have on any other outposts that may exist, and I need you to deliver a message for me, then you may go free, understood?"

The Count nodded and almost immediately began speaking as sweat ran down his cheeks. "This was the last outpost under the Hunter's rule."

"Good, then my Intel was correct; what about the base of operations? Where is Kabalstin hiding?"

"Are you insane? You couldn't possibly want to fight him! He will tear you apart like he does everyone who defies him!"

Zorn's eyes narrowed as his hatred began to flow. "That man took everything from me; I've spent most of my life training so I could kill him, my very purpose is to cut out his heart, now tell me where that _thing_ is hiding."

Homunculus' eyes seemed to open further as he took in the intruder's anguish. "Snow Peak, the ruins of Snow Peak."

"Show me." Zorn cut the restraints free and dragged the Count into his office and sat him at his desk, where a map was quickly slapped down. Homunculus quickly pointed out, near the most northern part of his map, a spot at which was only recently added to the maps of Hyrule. The snowy region outside of Zora's domain was unclaimed by the surrounding kingdoms, and was added to Hyrule because of the unwillingness shown by the other kingdoms to explore such a wasteland.

Only one man had ventured up that far to this date and lived, though just barely, with one arm completely missing and a large number of odd looking burns that felt cold to the touch; though they did heal given time.

The intruder marked his map before slipping it back into his belt. "Now I need you to take this to Kabalstin." He pulled out a letter and handed it to the count. Before he could protest, Zorn had picked him up by the collar and was dragging him to the door, where he was thrown to the stone floor.

Homunculus quickly scrambled to his feet and began running for the stairway upon seeing the many burned and maimed corpses scattered about. The intruder turned around and addressed the Hybrids whom were before him. "If you have the strength, help the wounded move to either Kakariko, or Faron woods; both are safe zones. I would suggest not going to Castle Town, the crown still hasn't passed the 'Hybrid Protection Bill'."

Without waiting for a reply, he strode into the next room to find seven people still sprawled out in their cells. He began directing the others on who would carry who, based on their build and how healthy they looked, though none seemed well. In the mean-time, he busied himself with healing the wounds on himself then moved to heal those with small wounds. He could fix cuts and the like, but anything infected was a lost cause, same with serious breaks, though he did his best to align the bones.

He went down the line of people until he came upon a little girl of about six and her mother. The two both had their eyes closed and were leaning up against the cell wall, the only signs of life being the slow rising and falling of the mother's chest. He gently shook the mother awake. "Ma'am, I'm not sure if you were awake for everything, but my name is-"

"Zorn." The woman finished for him. She had the same voice as the one whom had spoken in his favor earlier. "It's been a long time."

The intruder furrowed his brow in confusion at that, until he took a closer look at her features and realization hit him. "Christine?"

She smiled as best she could, happy that he had remembered her after all these years. "I'm afraid I've gotten myself into a bit of a mess once again."

"What happened?" He asked, a genuine sound of concern in his voice, something she hadn't heard in a long time.

"I was on my way to Ordon, hoping to find a nice place to settle down, away from everything, but then they caught us; that was about two months ago."

The intruder couldn't help but feel guilty, if he had maybe just worked a little bit faster instead of spending so much time with Ruto, she would have made it to her new home and lived with her daughter in peace. Her daughter... "What's her name?"

"Lucy." Christine looked down to the child in her lap as tears began to form in her eyes. "We aren't going to make it, Zorn. She has gone into the advanced stages of Tuberculosis, and has been past the recover date for nearly a week."

"What about you?"

There was a long pause. "I don't know what I have, but I know that nearly everything in my body is infected with something. I can't feel anything from the waist down, or my extremities, and I lost all movement other then my head this morning." There was another pause. "I need you to do something for me, Zorn."

He felt the pain in her voice as she spoke, and gave her his undivided attention in return for her sadness. He knew too that it was too late for her to be saved, healing magics had not advanced far enough to repair a body on the brink of failure. "Anything, just name it and I'll do my best to make sure it happens."

"I need you to-" Her voice cracked. "I need you to take her somewhere special- somewhere she can be happy, just a little while longer. Can- can you do that for me?" She was crying freely now with what little energy she had left to offer.

With a dark nod of understanding, he accepted the grim request of the dying woman. "I can take her to the forest, to Faron's Spring, if you wish."

Christine nodded. "I think she would like that."

* * *

Zorn walked across Hyrule Field for nearly 2 hours without interruption, keeping his pace soft and steady as to allow better rest for the child in his arms. It wasn't until sometime later that evening did he reach the Faron Province. Lucy began to stir in his arms as he entered the forest, the slightly cooler air seeming to be the cause.

She seemed confused and dazed, and then began to take in her surroundings one by one. "Are you the nice man that saves people?" Her timid voice caught his attention.

"If that's what everyone is calling me, then yes." He smiled down at her as he continued deeper down the trail.

"Where's mommy?"

He paused to try and find the words that wouldn't hint to anything that might frighten her. "She went to your new home before us, she wanted me to take you somewhere special first, so she has time to prepare where you are going to live."

The little girl began to cough, shaking her whole body with small tremors that ran up the entirety of her back. They eventually settled but not before a small amount of blood had been added to his tunic. "Where are we going?"

"I told her I would take you to a Spirit Spring, so you can get all cleaned up." He had also hoped that by some miracle, the spirit that resided there could either save her, or at the very least ease her pain until the end.

"I don't think the Spirit would like me getting his water all dirty."

Zorn chuckled, but inside, her innocence was tearing him apart. "I think he would make an exception for a little girl as cute as you."

She looked up at him with eyes that sparkled in the fading light. "Do you think so?"

"No, I know so." That had seemed enough to reassure her that whatever doubts she had about the spirit allowing her to be within its waters melt away. They continued on with relative silence until he decided to start up a conversation. "So, you're name is Lucy?"

"Yes, my mommy told me that your name was Zorn."

"That's right, did you know that your mommy and I used to be friends when we were younger?"

"You were?" Lucy asked, her attention clearly snared.

"Yep, we used to talk all the time in Kakariko, and up on Death Mountain. We used to play games too, and get into all kinds of trouble with my mentor, Darunia."

"I know him, he's a nice, big Goron, he used to take me up to the hot springs."

"He is a big old softie, but when he wants to be rough, he can be; I have a few scars from training exercises to prove it."

"He hit you?" She gasped, earning another coughing fit.

"Not in anger, he was teaching me; all three of the mentors I've had scarred me in one way or another, but never did they attack me in anger."

"Oh." Came her almost breathless reply. "Who were your other mentors?"

Under normal circumstances, he would have never told anyone about this sort of thing, but the girl deserved to know, she deserved all her questions answered. "Ruto, of the Zora and Saria of the Kokiri."

"What's a Kokiri?"

"A Kokiri is a child that is born of the forest, and is protected by the Great Deku Tree. So long as the Kokiri stays in the forest, they can live forever, as a child."

"Can I be a Kokiri?"

Zorn laughed. "No, I'm afraid you weren't born of the forest."

The two of them were silent for a long time afterward, until they reached the Spring, where Zorn walked into the water, still holding her until it was just past his waist, where he stopped. "How do you like the water?"

She had closed her eyes and was letting her hand dangle in the water. "It feels different than normal water, I like it."

He continued to hold her in the water, praying to The Goddesses that this would work, that she could still have a life after all of this was over. If she made it through this, he would even take care of her if he had to, until she was old enough to be on her own.

"Hey Zorn?" She broke into his prayers.

"Yes?"

"Are you my dad?"

The question caught him off guard, not having ever been asked anything like that, but he quickly pulled himself back together. "No, I'm not. I never knew your father."

"Oh, okay, I was just wondering." She sighed. "Mommy said he left before I was born; she said he had to do something but never came back."

"I'm sorry, but you know what? I bet you he tried as hard as he could to get back to you."

"That's what mommy says, but now we won't know if he came back, because we won't be there." he yawned.

Zorn didn't know how much more of this he could take before he cracked; he could feel her life fading the longer time went on, almost like a candle, it would soon go out. He went back to the edge of the water and laid her in it so that her face was free to breath but her body was covered.

_Please, don't let it end like this, she's just a little girl! She has so much more she could do, so much life, please let her live; please heal her._

He continued to pray harder than he ever had before, all the while keeping his emotions from escaping to the outside world. But even with his prayers, the candle began to flicker. Her breathing began to slow as she lay within the warm confines of her liquid blanket, before it suddenly stopped all together, and silence filled the area.

Zorn almost couldn't believe that he had failed in his attempt to save this one girl, after all that he had done to save his kind, the youngest of them hadn't made it through the storm. He pressed his hand to her neck and felt for a pulse, wishing for even the faintest of beats to course beneath his touch, but nothing came.

"_Do not fret over this, young warrior." _Came an airy toned voice. Zorn looked up to find a golden spirit floating above the waters, casting a light that was not of this world all about. _"There was nothing neither you nor I could have done to prolong this child's life. All that can be done now, is to erase the __dark stain that has cut down so many like yourself, and bring justice to Hyrule."_

"But," Zorn noticed there were tears streaming down his face. "She was so young, there has to be something that I can do to bring her back, anything?"

The Spirit seemed to shake its head, the only thing to hint this was the light patter changing around itself. _"She is gone, learn to let go of what cannot be helped, and work towards the better of those who can be; it is thine purpose, Zorn."_

With that said, Faron faded away, the light it cast going with it until darkness surrounded him. He looked down to find that Lucy's body had also faded away, not even an outline was left behind in the sand.

_Just like that..._ He thought, realizing just how precious life really was in that one moment. He could end a hundred lives at the drop of a hat, but couldn't help this one.

* * *

Kabalstin held his head in annoyance as he stared down at the letter that had just been delivered to him by the late Count Homunculus, whose body lay just outside the door in a cold heap. It was a warning message, very much like the one that had been delivered to him verbally when his establishments had first come under attack, but this was different.

_Kabalstin, goodness it's been far too long since we last met, perhaps that will soon change? I regret to inform you however, that our next meeting will be far from what it was all those years ago, but you already knew that, the fall of your last outpost should be enough to say you had noticed my return and increase in strength. It would only make sense for me to have grown in strength though, wouldn't it? I was only ten before, or was I nine? Does it matter? You're freedom will come to a sudden halt very soon, as will your breathing; I hope you're ready._

_~Zorn Haplen_

Before there had only been a first name, but now that there was a last name, things became far more complicated. That night on the bridge had shown him a child with a power, a dangerous power that he couldn't afford to leave in his opposition. Kabalstin remembered it fading into silence when the boy hit the water, which should have signaled his death, but he had survived nonetheless.

Yes, the boy had been a Zora – Hylian, but the gills on a Hybrid took a long time to develop into fully functioning gills, if they even did. The variables didn't add up, and the danger he presented was increasing as each second passed.

"So, you're the one he wants?" A dark voice suddenly broke the silence. Kabalstin looked up without so much as a hint of emotion to find a shadow with red eyes staring him down from across the room.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" He asked, angered by the appearance of the shadow.

"Who am I? I am your white knight... So to speak." The shadow smirked as it floated across the room, small licks of darkness seeping free from his form. Kabalstin was beginning to lose his patience with whatever this thing was. "Explain quickly, or leave me."

"So pushy, does anyone say please anymore?" The shadow snickered. "I can kill him for you."

"Kill who?" He growled.

"Zorn, of course."

Now the Shadow had Kabalstin's attention. "What's the catch?"

"No catch, I only need a body that can withstand large amounts of magic being cast through it; if you can give me that, you can consider him as good as dead."

"Hmm," He considered the shadow's offer for a moment, a body already attuned to magic was hard to create, but it wasn't impossible. "What is your name?

"Enki."

"Well Enki, your body will be ready within forty-eight hours."

* * *

**It's been far too long, but if you've followed my FaceBook page, you would know I suffered a bit of an accident and then went on vacation, but I'm back, and with a nice long update to make up for your extended wait.**

**The Sage of Water,**

**~ConGie**


	10. Chapter 10

The sun did not shine on this day, nor did the birds sing a song of joy, for their skies were filled with a mournful rain. Zorn had returned the night before to his cafe in Castle Town, in no mood for the welcome embrace of a certain sage; he only wished to be alone. The cafe would not be open for business until tomorrow, so no one could possibly bother him for any reason other than one of great importance. It was unlikely that anyone would bother him anyways, today was the day that the fate of the "Hybrid Protection Bill" would be decided; very few would dare to miss a law as dire as this.

That was another reason he had decided to come to Castle Town, not just to get away, but to witness the future of his race be decided. Though that was hours from now, until then, he was left alone to sulk over his failure. Faron's words hadn't done much to soothe him of Lucy's death; it almost made it worse, made him feel as though he should just cover up the loss of life, forget that he had made the mistake of taking his time.

It had all felt so surreal up until now, her death had been a blow, but his psyche hadn't felt the impact until this point. Why this one particular death had such effect, he was unsure; it simply hurt, almost as much as the loss of his parents; which seemed to make little sense as he had barely known the girl.

Maybe it was the fact that there was nothing he could do that made it hurt so much, his parents' death hadn't been much different, except that this time there was no running away from the end. Maybe it was the twisted reality that she had endured what she had for so long, maybe it was that they had been looking for a new life, maybe it was the condition he found them in. There were a million and one possibilities that he could use to answer his question, but none really seemed to fill the empty space that had been blown open.

Zorn wondered if The Hero from the stories ever felt this way, back when it was his turn to right the world; though it was highly unlikely seeing as if he did make a mistake, he could just as easily rewind time and fix whatever it was he did wrong. It was times like these where he wished he could talk to The Hero of Old, and ask him what he would do to console a guilty conscience. That was the problem with being a liberator, there were very few people he could talk to who would understand him and have an answer to whatever problem he's faced with.

There were the sages of course, but they had never experienced the same hardships as him first-hand, so their knowledge could only go so far. There wasn't much reason to speak with them at this point anyways, seeing as Faron had already said what really needed to be said.

The rain outside continued to pour, it's light patter being the only noise, the only bit of comfort he had in knowing that the world was still moving, and that not all of his efforts had been wasted. Even if many had perished thus far, there was still a civilization of those like him alive and well, regardless of their health, there would still be masses in the end. Wasn't that what really mattered after all? The survival of his race?

He stood from his chair in the back room of the shop and walked out to the bar, in need of some sort of drink to help soothe his frantic nerves. As he pulled out a glass from below the counter, he watched several children play out in the court-yard; their laughter coming in bursts with each puddle they splashed in, causing water to spray out and further drench any passerby unlucky enough to be caught within its range.

Zorn wondered as he continued to watch them play if it would be acceptable for him to join in their merriment. Sure the parents of these children would grow a bit weary seeing a grown man act as though there was no age difference at all, but it might very well be worth it in the end. By the time his drink was completed, he had decided against it and simply sat down at the bar.

If he could rewind time, like The Hero, he would go back to a rainy day in his youth, and play with his friends until they were chilled to the bone, assuring sickness the next day. Oh how he longed for the simplistic nature of childhood once more, and the sweet innocence that came with it. He longed for the days that came without worry and bloodshed; the days that seemed to never end, but at the same time, passed before they could be grasped for what they really were.

The days of youth were Freedom.

And the sad truth of that was simply that Zorn had given up half of them to seek the knowledge for revenge. That was something Ruto had asked him not to do, yet he had ignored her pleas and held on to his hatred, and for what? Nothing. That was one of his biggest mistakes yet, not changing his thought pattern to a more peaceful one and instead letting his hate flow. Even now he still hated Kabalstin, and every Hybrid Hunter alive; it was why he was so violent towards them, and offered very little mercy.

Though many had proved they deserved nothing more than to be slaughtered, there was still hundreds that had never done anything more than defend themselves or follow orders. They were still men; men that could very well have had families of their own, families that would never see them again. That was another big mistake: careless waste of life. Some of those men may not have even supported what was being done to his race, yet had gone along with it to feed their wives and children.

There was nothing that could be done to reverse all that had transpired, he could only go forward and pray he did not fail to accomplish his mission, and waste everything he had done.

With his mind beginning to fall back into balance, he sat in silence, and watched the children play.

* * *

The time had come, not long from now the decision would be made. Many had gathered in the Castle Court-yard to hear the news, and more were inside. It seemed that not only Castle Town's inhabitants had shown up, but Goron, Zora, and even a few Hybrids had come. It was because of the few Hybrid present that he had decided to cloak himself in a dark robe. It still rained heavily, so he did not look out of place in the slightest, as many others had chosen nearly the same style clothing as him.

Zorn had been among the first to arrive and had been granted access to the ballroom before it had become too crowded and blocked off by a small group of guards. There was an assortment of drinks and other refreshments spread out on tables that lined the outside of the room, all accompanied by a server, to assure that things stayed organized. While the many smells did attract his attention, he was far more interested in what was to transpire in the throne room.

He waited until the guards had all turned away from him before casually making his way up the stairs; at worst he could simply say he was going to find a restroom, but as he slipped into the closest door without so much as a fuss; he believed to have made it. The hallway he now found himself in was well lit with torches that lined the walls from one end to another. A red carpet ran through the center from each door, and the walls were decorated with beautiful tapestries.

It was everything he had expected the castle to be: hidden glamour and false appearances. Beneath all the "make-up" was nothing but stone; stone that he saw no sense in covering. But of course, he had always believed nature to have more beauty than the modern decorations.

Without another thought, he let his senses extend out into the establishment until he had a path that led to the top laid out in his head. He immediately turned to his left and quickly made his way down the hallway and walked through the door.

The hallway he now found himself in was no different than the rest and was empty all the same. Though he could sense a patrol not far from the door he intended to walk through next. With nothing more than a thought, he wrapped his cloak tighter about himself as well as a barrier of magic and pressed himself against the wall. When the patrol came through the door, they paid him no mind; but then who would pay mind to a shadow?

When they had passed, Zorn let out a breath and his magic fell. If it weren't for the fact that the spell required a large amount of concentration for even a stationary object, he would have just started out this way and no one would have ever even known he was here. But as fate would have it, he simply was not that strong.

_Maybe if you were stronger, you could have saved her._

Zorn shook his head and looked around in confusion. He could have sworn he heard someone say something, but with the emptiness of the room, he was at a loss. It didn't matter, and he didn't have time to spare; with that in mind, Zorn left the room behind him and continued along his set path.

Through the next door the hallway opened to a walkway overlooking the outer courtyard. The walkway led to two towers on the inner-wall that, when necessary, could bombard the draw-bridge with arrows or even the courtyard should the situation present itself. It would be best if he didn't get caught, seeing as it was an escape worth avoiding.

He continued along the pathway to a double doorway that led back within the castle's confines. The room he entered was nothing special, and he skipped through it to a staircase at the opposite side that led into another room resembling the first. However, this time it was guarded by two.

_Maybe you aren't cut out for the life you lead?_

Zorn knew he heard it this time, but did his best to push it back as he pulled out a small Deku-nut from within his belt and threw it back down the stairs as he pressed himself against the wall and hid himself from sight.

"Did you hear that?" One asked, though he was unsure as to which.

"I'll go check it out."

He could hear the guard's footsteps before finding a lightly armored man round the corner to where he was hidden. Just as the man passed by, Zorn kicked out his foot from under him. The man cried out as the ground began to fall away from him, though not for long as the stairs soon caught him once again and he rolled all the way to the bottom.

"Mike!" Just as planned, the second guard quickly came to the first one's aid. The intruder watched him scramble down the stairs after friend until he felt it safe to continue onwards. He quickly made his way up the staircase until he was upon yet another room.

This room was a little bit larger than the other two, though for the most part it looked no different. There were a few pots in the corners of the room, filled to the brim with an unknown liquid. He didn't pay much attention to the pots for long and simply continued up the next set of stairs.

Not before long he found himself in a new room. On the left side of the room there was a large double door that looked as though it would take several large men to move such an object, whereas on the far-side there was a small set of double doors. As he scanned the room, he almost couldn't believe his luck; there was not a soul to the area.

_I doubt it's because they're afraid of a weakling like you._

It was surprising to find such a lack of security this close to the throne room; one would think it would be crawling with opposition. While he knew he could move the larger set of doors on his own, he opted for the smaller set for the sake of exploration.

The room he now found himself in was closed in on all sides save for a few windows opposite to the where he now stood. It was decorated with simple tapestries, unlike the rest of the castle; this room seemed to be a sort of storage. With his curiosity satisfied he turned and left the room behind.

Just as the doors shut behind him, Zorn suddenly felt a blade press up against his neck. Just as the blade was beginning to slide against his skin, he slapped it away and slammed his back into his assailant. The attacker seemed to expect this and somehow managed to duck directly under his legs as he smacked into the doors he had just come out of.

Zorn quickly brought out his under-arm blades and was shocked find that he was already under a flurry of small, quick jabs that were all expertly aimed at his vitals. The attacker suddenly withdrew, much to his appreciation, but had also thrown a Deku-nut upon their departure.

The intruder quickly clasped his eyes shut against the blinding light and simply used his ears to determine another attack. Just as he had expected, his attacker rushed forward, but he lunged to this side just in time to hear two metal blades suddenly strike wood.

Zorn's eyes shot open as he hit the ground and rolled to his feet, finally getting a glimpse of his opponent. From what he could tell within the short time he was given to take in details, the attacker was female and wore a very tight, form fitting uniform and chain-mail. The chain-mail was very then and only seemed to be in place to protect against weak melee weapons. She had dark, silver hair and piercing red eyes; though her expression was a mask of stone as she turned towards him.

She had deep lines in here face from obvious advanced age, though she moved like she was in her early twenties and had the strength that would rival some of the men he had taken on over the years. Thinking back however, there was never a time he had faced an opponent like this, and he wasn't entirely sure how to take her out without causing a lot of noise.

_Seems like you're getting rusty, boy. I distinctly remember your sensing abilities to be better than this; why didn't you know she was there? I know why, you've only made it this far because they want you to, you have no skill._

Before he could even bat an eye, the warrior was upon him once again, lashing out with whatever appendage had the best chance of landing a strike. Whether it be a blade or a foot, it didn't seem to matter. Even with the speed Zorn had, he was having to stay on the defensive, lest he wish to lose something.

Sparks flew every which way as they danced about the room; he feared that someone might hear their battle and bring back-up at any moment with how much noise their weapons made. Again and again they clashed, but neither could seem to find a foothold that would allow them to overpower the other and strike the final blow.

Finally, after his fear for someone finding the two of them had dissipated, he found the opening he had been waiting for. Zorn kicked the warrior's legs out from under her and slammed his elbow into her stomach as she began to fall to the ground. She cried out in pain as she hit the ground with a dull thud that rattled both their chain-mail. Before she could retaliate, he placed one blade at her throat and all went silent.

"Now, before this gets out of hand yet again, I want you to take a minute and listen to me. Can you do that or do I have to silence you?" Zorn threatened. He had never killed a woman before, and didn't plan to do so now; he just hoped she wouldn't call his bluff.

"I see no reason not to listen to you, though I should warn you not to threaten me in such ways when you yourself are in the same position as I."

The intruder felt cold steel press against about where his heart should be. In seeing this he let his blades slide back into place and he climbed to his feet. Being the kind of man he was, he reached out a hand to help her up, though she did not take it.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone, I'm not an assassin, or a mercenary, I'm just here to listen to the debate. Would you be kind enough to let me pass by you without any further interruption?"

Much to his surprise, the warrior woman smiled at him. "I believe your intentions to be true, Zorn Haplen. Do not seem so surprised young warrior; your works don't get past my people, much less a Sage."

Zorn gawked in surprise and confusion at the revelation of not only the knowledge of his name, but her status as a Sage. "I'm sorry ma'am, but I'm afraid I've never met you, and I've met quite a few sages in my time."

"Of course, where are my manners? My name is Impa, I am the Sage of Shadow, as well as the current leader of the elite guard of her royal highness: Princess Zelda."

Zorn couldn't help but feel skeptically about the woman until she had said her name, which he remembered from the stories Ruto had told of the Hero of Time many years ago. "It is a pleasure to meet you Impa, I apologize for retaliating in such a harmful manner, and I am deeply sorry if I have injured you in any way."

"I expected nothing less, do not apologize, it was my test after all. Ruto has told me a great deal about you and I'm pleased to see that her stories fall nothing short of the legend that you have become. I do not wish to hold you any longer than is necessary, but I want you to know that if there is ever anything you need, ask one of your masters where my village is. I am looking forward to the death of Kabalstin as much as you are, and I am willing to lend you the strength of my people to get it done."

"Thank you, Impa, it warms my heart to hear that I'm not the only one willing to fight to end his reign." Zorn almost seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at her offer, like the stress he had held atop his shoulders eased just enough to allow breath.

"As I've said, I wish to take no more of your time, please hurry along and do not get spotted by any of the guards that are stationed within the throne room." She pulled a key from within her the folds of her uniform and quickly unlocked the large door.

Zorn slipped inside and waved back at her as she shut the door behind him, and once again turned the key to lock the door. He found himself now be on a large patio of sorts that overlooked most of Hyrule, with stairs on either side of where he emerged leading up to what looked to be the throne room.

The wind up this high was swift, and cold as the heavy down-pour continued to drench the inhabitants of Castle Town. He flipped up his hood and made his way up one side of the stairs to a large arch-way that opened up into an even larger room. Though he did not enter, for he could see a large table with many nobles and the lot gathered and sitting around the table. He could not hear a single word from where he was though which was a problem, to say the least.

With the heavy rain to mask the sound of his blades sliding out, he walked around the outside of the stone structure until he was looking down at the castle's many gardens. With a quick thrust, his blade pierced the hard stone that was not visible to anyone entering the throne room, and he began to climb. As he moved around the side of the building, he found that there were many more archways that led inside that would give him more than enough cover thanks to marble pillars just on the other side of them.

With a plan beginning to form, he climbed to the highest point that he possibly could and launched himself onto one of the marble pillars. His blades slid almost silently into the stone and he was able to climb up to the many wooden beams over head. With a quick scan, he was able to find a perfect spot to hide within three large statues depicting the Goddesses, all focused around their creation: The Triforce. Within the three giant triangles there was an empty, upside-down triangle which he quickly climbed down into.

Zorn could now hear the voices of those at the table, and from what he could understand, no one had noticed his presence during his traversing of the beams.

"-and why should they be given any sort of protection? It would simply cost Hyrule more than the trouble is actually worth, not to mention men's lives could be lost in the process of protecting the Hybrid population. I say we should let Kabalstin and his forces eradicate what's left of them, and we put the mess behind us."

"I agree with General Green, even with the sudden decline in Kabalstin's forces, the danger in opposition is too great, and too costly."

A woman at the head of the table, dressed in an elegant gown with a crown atop her head, seemed to shift uneasily in her seat at the exchange of words. Zorn assumed she was the infamous Princess Zelda he had heard so much about since birth. "Why do you think, General Green, that Hyrule is poor? And worse yet, why do you have so little faith in your men? Do you think that they wouldn't be able to protect the Hybrid population? I don't understand why your reasoning in this situation is so doubtful towards troops that you yourself have taken into battle and come home victorious with; please explain."

"Well, your majesty, Kabalstin's troops may be few at this point in time, but even so, the remaining few have only survived slaughter thus far because they are the strongest. They dodged this "Zorn" character and have retreated to the last strong-hold available to them at this point time. The Hybrid Hunters are trained by men Kabalstin appoints as great leaders personally; men he has trained personally."

"And our elite group can't handle them should they attack?"

"From what I've seen, your highness, I doubt my own abilities against the remaining members of the Hybrid Hunters."

"I see, and what of this "Zorn"? When did he become a part of the equation, and what is his status with Hyrule?"

"I can answer that Princess," an older man spoke up. By his looks, he was some sort of scholar. "He showed up about a half year ago, around the same time that the first of Kabalstin's many outposts were brought down. According to the information gathered from Hybrids that were brought back from the outpost by him, he saved them all singe-handed. He has since brought down a total of seven-teen strong-holds and major outposts, in other words, all establishments owned by the Hybrid Hunters within Hyrule. He has not attacked our forces as of yet, and has not been a burden in any way to us."

"Do we have any records regarding his origin?"

The scholar shuffled around with some papers before him on the table before continuing. "Yes, there are reports from Kakariko that he frequently made visits to the local stores within the last six years, and there are even earlier records saying that he was born here in Castle Town. He was the son of the deceased John and Clair Haplen, owners of a local cafe before the night of their murder."

"I believe I remember a John Haplen, wasn't he the man who supplied us with regular drink during celebrations?"

"According to our records, yes ma'am. But I'm afraid that I have yet to mention what bothers me about these records your highness. According to Zorn's records, he died at the hands of Kabalstin himself the same night as his parents."

Zelda seemed to go silent for a long time, her thoughts seeming to echo about the room, though her lips did not move as silence continued to ring. "Captain Aryan, what is your take on the matter."

"I believe that the Hybrids should be given the same protection as any other inhabitant of Hyrule, but I don't think they should be given any special sort of protection as the bill suggests. I'm not worried, as the general is, of Kabalstin's remaining forces; I don't believe them to be a threat so long as we have as many numbers as we do. On top of that, he has to worry about Zorn's attacks as well, so I believe he would be too occupied to give Hyrule any attention for a long time yet."

"That sounds very hot-headed, Captain." The General very nearly sneered.

"Calm yourselves," Zelda commanded. "What about you, Marcus?"

The scholar looked up from his papers. "I believe in the bill, your majesty. I believe that no matter the cost, these men, woman, and children have been robbed of their lives simply because they are not like everyone else. I think they should be protected until the threat no longer exists. After all, Hyrule stands on non-racial grounds, what with the Zora, and the Goron living alongside us in harmony; and now Kabalstin has threatened this new race and is slowly bending our laws on equality until he has broken even the law of murder."

"Captain, General, Marcus has a very valid point, do you still stand with your original argument?"

The General was first to speak, very nearly raising his voice to better over-power the captain. "Yes, your highness, I believe that nothing should be done to stop the destruction of the Hybrids. They may be part of our society, but they aren't welcome to begin with, just listen to the talk of the market."

"Captain?"

"With the point that has been presented by Marcus, I would have to agree that Kabalstin is breaking the laws set by Hyrule, and I think that if it continues he should be taken into custody; however I still do not believe that the Hybrid population should be granted any sort of special protection."

"Very well," The Princess focused on the rest of the members at the table. "Three propositions have been placed before you, Hyrulian Counsel. Based on the arguments that you have heard, I ask that each of you place a vote on one of the three solutions and write them on the pieces of paper placed before you and then sign your name. Once your vote has been cast, please make sure no one else has seen your vote and I will have one of the guards collect your vote."

Zorn had to admit that he was impressed with how The Princess was handling the situation. Allowing more than just her own vote and those of great power was certainly a courageous thing to do. It was a fair system that gave everyone a chance to let their voice be heard. Evidence of this was that within the members of the Hyrulian Counsel, he could see the Chief of Kakariko, the King of the Zora, and the Goron Patriarch. Alongside them were their wives, whom were also given a piece of paper themselves.

It was obvious by this show of equality that the laws not only covered racism, but sexism as well. Seeing as Zelda herself was female, it would make perfect sense that she would allow women to have the same rights, as she had the most rights herself. What bothered him about the members of the table though, was the fact that there were no Hybrids present to vote for their own future.

The papers were eventually all signed and made their way down to Zelda as each person finished and passed onto a collector. The room was silent as she carefully read each and every individuals vote, sometimes re-reading them to make sure she absorbed the information.

The Princess finally set down the papers and folded her hands back onto her lap, a solemn look upon her face. "As per usual, everyone here has a vote that equals 1, though mine shall equal 2 because I have not yet been brought into wedlock, where-as the representatives present have. Is everyone in agreement with this old standard?"

She let the room remain silent for a few moments, giving everyone a chance to object should they wish to; though none did. "Alright then, the original proposal has 1, the General's proposal has 3 votes, and the Captain's proposal has 2. I have decided that my vote shall be cast upon the Captain's proposal. While I do believe the Hybrids deserve to be protected, they are no different than any of our other inhabitants. They shall be granted the rights of a Hyrulian citizen, and shall fall under the Hyrulian law. If they are further abused, Hyrule shall treat the situation no differently than any other kidnapping, murder, rape, torture, or any other form illegal activity."

By the time she was done speaking, a scroll and wax seal had been passed down to her, as well as a quill. The scroll was signed and stamped before being passed to Marcus who proceeded to place it within one of his many cases.

"If there are no further questions, this meeting is adjourned."

* * *

**Thank you everyone for being so patient, I've already got the next one in the works, but I still can't promise any specific release date.**

**The Sage of Water,  
~ConGie **


	11. Chapter 11

Zorn sat in his hiding place long after the meeting had ended, somewhat content with what had transpired. It meant that he wouldn't have to work as hard as he had been, but he still had a lot on his plate. Kabalstin was still his issue to take care of, but now he wouldn't have to worry as much about the people he had already released. He could sleep well knowing that if something were to happen, Hyrule would be more than willing to take up arms and defend its newest race.

He watched as the council members began to depart, one by one until only Marcus, the Captain, the General, and Zelda remained. Then something interesting happened; Zelda motioned for her guards to leave. Zorn began to wonder if he had missed something.

"Marcus, the only reason you remain here is to act as a witness, none of what is to transpire may leave this room unless the law of my ancestors says otherwise." Zelda stated.

"Yes, your majesty." The scholar seemed to be very confused as he remained in his seat.

The Princess then moved her attention to General Green. "General, your behavior today has left me questioning your stand-point, and authority. What is it that you are hiding, and why are you so eager to let Kabalstin do as he wishes?"

The General snorted and leaned forward onto the table. "The truth is, I believe in his cause, your majesty. I don't believe those things deserve to live. I think they are a disgrace to the Goddesses creation; a sin embodied in flesh, scales, and rock."

"Something tells me that's not your only reason for the complete denial of their protection, I feel that you have a more personal reason behind your thinking."

"The Goddesses did not design-"

Zelda quickly cut him off. "Do not dodge me General, you are in no position to do so. Pretend your position depends on how truthful you answer me, because unless you do so you will be demoted immediately and Captain Aryan will take your place. I believe at this current point in time that he is more suitable for your title than you are, and with that in mind, choose your next words carefully."

Zorn was surprised to see this woman, someone who not too long ago was very composed, interrupt someone so quickly. He did think the man was trying to hide something, but her new demeanor surprised him nonetheless.

The General stood in silence for a few moments. "My son was among the many that were slaughtered during the attack against one of Kabalstin's establishments. His wife was expecting but she recently passed away along with her child. Daniel did not like what was being done there, but it kept his family alive."

Zelda sat back in her chair and folded her hands across her lap, and listened as he continued.

"He didn't deserve the end that he met, no one does." General Green bowed his head and placed both a finger and thumb and either side of his nose. "I found his body among the rest; his armor had been heated to such a degree that it had become his skin, and had then hardened once again, leaving him a dying statue if the heat alone hadn't killed him."

"It sounds to me like you want revenge?" The captain asked.

"I want the problem gone, and these people are the problem. If they had never come into existence, if their parents had controlled themselves, then I could have met my grandson."

"General Green," Zelda's voice was heavy, but still held its commanding tone. "You are to be relieved of your command immediately due to questionable judgment, and you are required to report to a psychiatrist. Upon my inspection of a psychiatric report at the end of next month I will determine whether or not you are emotionally fit to serve further in another military based position. An official demotion will take place tomorrow afternoon, and you will be required to attend, dismissed."

Mr. Green didn't seem to be too shocked, but turned and left the room without a further word, his tail between his legs in defeat.

Zelda moved her Gaze to the Captain as the Ex-General left her sight. "I would suggest you write a speech, these sorts of things do not go unnoticed and require quite an audience; they will want to hear from the man who is going to replace Green."

"Yes your Majesty, I will start as soon as I am able."

"Good, dismissed." She nodded to the two remaining bodies within the room and they each gathered themselves then left. The princess sighed and let herself sink into her chair just a bit more as the day's stress finally released the claws it had dug into her shoulders.

This was why Zorn hated politics, it took too long to get anything done and it leaves the head planner tired and worn down to the bone; besides, as terrible as it sounded, there was a bit of satisfaction alongside slicing into a body.

_That's it, just accept who you are, things will get easier if you do._

"_Who are you?"_ Zorn thought to the voice.

_All will come to fruition soon, and upon death your pain will reveal my name._

It almost felt like a piece of him had gone missing as soon as the voice stopped, and his vision began to falter for a moment before it steadied once again. But the feeling of being only half full was still there, nagging at the back of his mind that something was missing from him.

Zelda suddenly shot up in her chair, knocking it backwards onto the floor as she spun around and directed her almost fearful eyes up at the space Zorn was hiding in. He quickly threw up a shield that would hopefully keep her from noticing him there and kept it close to his body in order to keep the magic in line with the natural flow of magic all around him.

She scanned the area for a few moments before her gaze dropped to the chair that had fallen. Zelda set it back up as Impa came running into the room. "What was that!?" The Sage asked in a tone that seemed just as frightened as the eyes of the princess.

"I don't know, it felt very much like the power of the Triforce, but I know it was far from it. It felt almost as if its polarity was reversed but it still moved in the same direction as The Golden Power, sort of like it was using The Three's Power to jump ahead and fuel its own movement."

By now Impa had stopped just in front of the Princess who was in a daze of sorts. Zorn took advantage of the fact that she was disoriented and let his shield fall as he used a small amount of magic to launch himself onto the ceiling beams. He could see that the Sheikah had noticed him, but the princess was still greatly disturbed.

Impa looked up to him as though she expected him to know what had happened, but he could only shake his head in confusion as she broke their eye contact. With nothing left to be done here, and only questions weighing upon his mind, he took his leave through the window from which he used to enter the room.

* * *

Kabalstin continued to press magic into the _thing_ that stood before him within the circle which he had drawn upon the ground. The circle was a wizard's finest tool, its ability to augment the strength of a single man was unparalleled to that of any mobile enchantment. To put it into perspective, any one can fire an arrow, but only a sharpshooter can get a head shot.

The body/sack of meat that he was creating shook with each pulse that was sent into its "flesh". To most it would look as though something from a demented nightmare was crawling out from between the dream world and some other place where evil goes to rot. To those who could look past the physical barrier, it was a puzzle that was just as elegant as it was dangerous. If you didn't build the puzzle correctly, if you even missed one piece or put something in the wrong spot, not only would the puzzle fall to pieces, but so would the puzzle master.

It was for this reason that Kabalstin chose not to tell anyone where he had gone. This place was completely silent, and it held the energies of hundreds, if not thousands of dead, or dying souls within its depths. It was the grounds upon which an apprentice of dark arts could cast some of the most dangerous spells known to the world with only the effort that they would normally throw into a simple spell. This of course didn't mean they would survive, most likely due to their inexperience, but the fact remained that they could do it.

In other words, this place had an increased natural flow of magic that anyone could draw upon just by simply being near it. It was a prison, only recently left to time thanks to Kabalstin's murdering of the guards and prisoners. Someone would eventually come along and find that there was nothing but rotting corpses laid everywhere and deem it unsafe for anyone other than the accused to spend time in, but that would then mean that no one could stay for any amount of time. All things considered, he had prepared a hiding place for himself should anything ever go wrong.

With how things were going right now, it seemed rather likely that he would end up running here, unless Enki could be held to his word, which was another reason he had come to this place. He needed the extra energy that could be obtained here to make sure that he could kill Enki if he simply took the body and ran. It takes more time to get something like that ready, but with how much more energy he released by killing everyone in the area he was actually ahead of the original schedule. If he were to keep up the pace he had going, the body may be ready much later tonight.

"My my, doesn't that thing just look absolutely fantastic?"

Kabalstin let his attention waver over to a shadow figure standing not too far from himself. Enki was smirking in amusement as he watched the body twitch back and forth within the invisible bonds in which it hung.

"I've got to hand it to you, I wouldn't have thought to use fresh death as a means to fuel my own abilities, not to say I wouldn't have killed them, that I most certainly would have done. Then with it already being a place of great magical property from past death, I can't say that I blame you for taking such a great amount of time coming out here." The shadow began circling the body, watching as it began to take in greater details such as the eye sockets and ears. "You are definitely moving very fast, and that's saying something for someone of your caliber."

"If you wouldn't mind shutting your trap until I am finished, I may be able to concentrate enough where as not to miss anything vital."

Enki shrugged and floated away from the body, though kept his gaze firmly fixed in place and watched in fascination. "Don't mind my rambling, I'm just intrigued by your actions, and more so by this process. I've only ever murdered, destroyed, manipulated, and maimed bodies, seeing one made makes me feel..." He shuddered. "It brings me great pleasure. I would like to someday learn this magnificent trade so I can continue whatever studies I may conduct in complete secrecy; the last thing I would want is to be caught once again and left as either this shadow, or in a cold corpse."

The Shadow didn't normally like to think about his past failure, but things were once again beginning to work for the better of himself. It was amusing to watch so many people play his game and not even know it; albeit not a very long game, but a game nonetheless. A game that will leave a trail of blood behind him with each passing victim; with each passing experiment.

* * *

Zorn looked out over the cliff-side outside of Castle Town, just below him lay Lake Hylia, his home, but beyond that lay wastes. He had never been out to Gerudo Desert, and if what he was sensing out there was any indication to go, now was the time. There was a lot of death, and then something felt very off and it hadn't stopped yet. He had heard there was a prison out there, maybe it was just a scheduled execution, but then what was that feeling?

It felt very unnatural but it was only because of how much was being channeled into one spot and then being dispersed back at a different... Frequency? That felt like the right word to him. The energy that came back out of that certain point felt like just energy, there wasn't any sort of "life" to it anymore, it was just energy. All energy had life, but now it just felt like energy that was normally all around him. Maybe it was a ritual that had to do with life passing on. He was never one to dabble in the religious customs of The Three, he just did as he was told and drank in the short lived praise knowing that those people he saved had a chance because of him.

Was that the sort of ritual that was performed at a burial? It was something worth looking into, especially with what he was feeling now. But then what was he feeling, and how reliable were his senses after today's incident? A better question still would be what was the incident? At first he had thought that what was going on was just him experiencing a painful loss, and he still was, the pain was still there, but that hadn't been his mind that was speaking to him before, or had it?

Everything was very confusing right now and he didn't know what he was supposed to believe when he didn't even know what was going on inside his own mind. Maybe finding a funeral was what he needed to do, but first he felt an overwhelming need to go to the home that he felt most comfortable with out of all the homes he had ever been in.

With as little as a simple thought he brought up a gust of wind from behind himself and flew out into the open air, high above the shimmering waters. The wind whipped around him in furious tantrums as he fell further away from his diving point. The waters caught up with him all too quickly, stealing away that moment of peace he felt when in the air. He twisted around within the water's grip so as not to hit the bottom and made his way towards the temple.

The familiar drop in temperature greeted him as he began his descent towards the place and person that he hoped would bring him true peace. Zorn barely noticed himself breaking from the water once inside, or even that he was making his way to his own room for that matter; it all felt very familiar, but go figure, he had walked, ran, and swam this place so much that he knew every crack that had ever formed by heart.

Now he was in the room with the four pillars, and so was she, floating just above the surface of the water, her eyes knit together in concentration. He knew very well when not to disturb someone, and meditation was one of the times you not dare try to get someone's attention. He would just have to wait until she was done. It would always be worth watching her face though, there was always something you could learn from watching someone with the ability to sense their surroundings.

Ruto tilted her head back and forth when she was trying to find an answer, but she just sat there this time which meant she had found something but didn't know what to do with what she'd found. He wondered if it was the same exact thing that he had found that had her so tense, if it was, did she also feel what both he, Zelda, and Impa felt? She most likely did with the evidence that he has found already, and hopefully she'll have the answers he's looking for.

The Sage of Water slowly relaxed, her shoulders falling into a more relaxed position. She opened her eyes and almost seemed surprised to see him sitting there, but he knew that she was only surprised that she hadn't noticed how close he was; she wouldn't have left herself so open as to not sense him at all.

"Something is happening," Ruto sighed. "I don't know who is doing it, or why, but someone is creating a body that is designed to withstand the magic of those who serve the three. The body isn't invulnerable to magic, but unless a dark magic is cast at it I don't think anything will happen. Why would anyone create something like that is beyond me; living in that sort of body would eventually send you into a maddened state, I just can't imagine ever wanting something like that regardless of the advantage it would give you over some magic."

"Are you talking about whatever is going on in the desert?" Zorn asked.

"Yes, I was only able to get close enough to see what was being made; I couldn't find out why or who was doing it though my guess would be Kabalstin is the one behind it."

"Should we go do something about whatever is going on there?"

"No, by the time we get there, it will be too late; I think the best course of action would be to track the body after it's been released into the world and hope that it isn't our enemy. With our luck though, I wouldn't be surprised if it is something to be put in our way, it seems that everything normally is."

"Well, if it is something that needs to be destroyed, I'll take care of it when the time comes. Did you sense anything else; something from the castle maybe?" Zorn was curious to see if what had happened had been something he should be worrying about as well, if it was even something at all.

"Oh, I had almost forgotten about that; to be entirely honest, I'm not sure if it's something to worry about. It felt like both evil and good at the same time, but what caught my attention was the energy it gave off. It felt like the Triforce, but at the same time it felt... black? Or maybe gray but I can't really remember, it happened so fast I had barely noticed it."

Zorn didn't know what to think of what happened, but to the best of his knowledge the only thing he needed to worry about was what was going on in the desert. He thought of telling her what he had heard talking to him in his head but decided against it. Whatever it was he could deal with himself should it continue. It was probably just stress from the past few days anyways so why worry her?

"I don't know about you," Ruto started. "But I am done with all this talk of business." Ruto dropped into the water and a few moments later had Zorn pined to the ground in a forceful embrace. He laughed as she rubbed her cheek into his chest.

"I missed you too." Zorn forced the two of them into an upright position with her in his lap all the while not letting go of her. It felt heavenly to just hold her again, especially after everything that had just happened. It wasn't right to spend so much time away from her even if it was his decision to do so.

"It seems like just yesterday that I was pulling you out of the water, time flies so quickly, doesn't it?" The Sage of Water sighed and let her body relax into his. "Now look at you, you've grown up so much and you've become everything you were destined to."

"I appreciate you saying that, it's been a hard couple of days."

"Oh, I can imagine, I know I couldn't handle it all, I'm too much of a happy person."

Zorn smiled to himself and pulled her closer to himself. "I need to de-stress, I almost forget what it feels like to not have to worry about anything and to just simply be alive."

Ruto began playing with his shirt, the fabric feeling course and in need of washing. "Well what would you like to do? I have all the time in the world, we could do anything you like, anything at all." It was her goal to make him happy, make him feel like he was still a person capable of normal life. She had seen it too often in the Zoran army back when she was still a part of the community; they broke down and went entirely mad, the horrors eventually becoming all too much for them to handle.

Zorn thought for a moment. "Why don't we go swimming? It's been awhile since we've played any games, we could play tag."

"We could, but how about we make it more interesting?"

He cocked his head in interest, breaking away from the embrace to better see her face. "What did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking the first person to get tagged wins and then I give you a nice long back rub."

The thought was certainly intriguing and he was pretty stiff from recent battles as well as stress. "We could always skip the game, I'm honestly quiet tired and was only making a suggestion. If you wouldn't mind I would actually like to just lie down for a while and talk with you."

Ruto smiled and stood up, holding out her hand to hoist him up to his feet. "I don't mind at all, it's the least I can do for someone as amazing as you."

* * *

"Are you done yet?!" The Shadow whined into Kabalstin's ear, purposefully changing the pitch of his voice to be as annoying as possible.

Kabalstin didn't know if he could contain his rage any longer, it was just so painful to hear his voice now. Enki behaved like a child would on a long trip, his voice only growing more grating as time went on to the point where it felt like there may have been a little bit of blood trickling from his ear. Regardless of the distractions though, the wizard pressed on knowing that he was almost done with this hellish project.

The body now looked human with its skin torn in many places. These "wounds" were slowly knitting themselves together, new skin growing over the patches of open meat at a supernatural rate. Finally, the last bit of skin melded to close the shell and Kabalstin dropped his arms for the first time since his arrival to this location early this morning, sometime before the sun rose.

The wizard looked up to the now darkened sky and smirked, knowing that he had once again defied The Goddesses' laws. It was an achievement every single time he broke the laws mortals were supposedly bound by and he felt an overwhelming emotional response that left him light headed. He didn't need anyone, not even his creators for he had just created a twisted copy of the very vessel for life that he himself used in the short span of a single day.

Pride swelled through him as he turned his gaze upon his twisted creation. It looked exactly like any other body but what lay beneath was so much more. This body was essentially a shortcut, an unholy answer to death, a perfectly rotten creation that functioned perfectly apart from the laws of this world.

"I had only been joking when I asked if you were done, but I guess this means you are." Enki spun around the body, examining it in detail as it hung in suspension. "Very well done, not a single tear in the skin, perfectly smooth."

Kabalstin's smirk faded as he watched the shadow inspect his work. "Do not forget your end of the deal."

"Oh I would never forget, not this deal, I've wanted to kill that boy since the day we met. I knew there was something different about him and that suspicion was confirmed when he was able to harm me; only one other man has ever been able to harm me in this form. I want him gone as much as you do."

"Then get on with your task." The wizard turned and began his long trek home, not bothering to say anything more as nothing more need be said. Enki watched him for a moment before turning his focus back to the body. With one swift motion, he dove into its chest and aligned his own form with the form of the new body.

The body accepted him immediately, its finely tuned magical veins coursing to life under Enki's will. He could feel the world shift as his own vision faded to the eyes, true sight once again a delight he could enjoy to the fullest. As a shadow, the world feels dull and is nothing like what it should be, always shifting and swaying with the movement of every shadow in view. It is almost maddening at times, but that was no longer an issue.

He could feel a burning sensation in his chest and he could feel panic begin to grip him before he remembered that mortal bodies require breath. His mouth opened, gulping in air in frantic gasps; the sensation was painful at first but soon he adjusted to the feeling. Enki hadn't realized until now but he had somehow ended up on his back. The rough sand against his skin felt... _Painful?_ He couldn't quite find the word to go along with the feeling. Not bothering to put anymore thought into it, Enki stood to his feet, wobbly at first though memories of the action came back to him and soon enough he was walking on his own.

As a test of the body's magical abilities, he conjured himself some clothing from a nearby shadow, shadow magic being his personal best form of magic, and was pleased to be fully clothed in a cloak that resembled the same clothing he was put to death in. It was nothing special, just a simple black robe, gray pants, brown leather boots, and red undershirt. He was never one for flashing clothing, there was always too much blood too be shed to worry about such.

Now that he had created clothing and brought himself to understand his body and control it, it was time to fight. With a flick of his wrist, shadows surrounded him and clung to his form. Within a few moments he was air-born and moving quickly towards his new beginning.

* * *

Zorn lay at the bottom of the pool with the four pillars face down, his shirt lay next to him in a clump with a certain zora atop his back. He let out a deep sigh, though it was hardly audible beneath the surface, as Ruto dug her fingers into his back. The pain that was brought on as Ruto pressed into the pressure points on his back were welcome and appreciated, the end result holding far more worth than the price to obtain his relief. Every time she let up on a pressure point it felt as though every fiber in his body suddenly let go of one another to rest before gripping each other once again; simply put he was in heaven.

"Thank you, this feels amazing." Zorn barely moaned as she pressed her fingers into him again.

"You deserve it, no need to thank me." She let up quickly and switched to another spot on his back.

"Regardless, I want to thank you no matter how you may view your actions."

The Sage smiled. "You always have been the proper sort. I've really come to admire that about you, even with the short time you've spent in this life you learned what most people never learn and that is how to treat other beings. I've been alive a long time and you are one of the few people that treat those the way they wish to be treated."

"Everyone deserves respect; I just wish everyone could see that. It's quite sad when you think about it; there wouldn't be a single problem in the world if we were just to treat everyone equally and with respect." Zorn took a moment to turn his head to the side so he could look her in the eyes. "Like you, you've got a deranged mass murderer living with you and you don't treat him any differently."

Ruto stopped for a moment and looked at him curiously. "You think of yourself as a mass murderer?"

"Me? No, though I do sometimes have that thought pop up into my head. I'm talking about Enki."

She was quiet as she sat up. "Zorn... You and I are the only ones who have ever been here.."

No sooner had she said that than did a light tapping at the edge of the pool catch their attention. The pair swam to the surface and what they found confused both of them. They found nothing. Zorn was the first to climb out of the pool followed soon after by Ruto. No matter which way they turned, there was not a single thing out of the ordinary.

"I've waited so many years," a voice cut through the air. "So many that I've lost count. I'd begun to go absolutely mad with how long it's been. Do you know what it's like to see a world you once knew to be so vivid to suddenly die out, all of its color bleeding away until you can't even remember what it used to look like?"

Zorn turned toward the door to his room and found a man that looked very much like himself, some differences were present though. His hair was far darker, an unnaturally midnight black, and his skin was almost deathly pale, his eyes were a sickly green color that was almost dizzying to look upon, and his face was slightly more elongated than Zorn's own. Even in his new form, the man was not unrecognizable.

"Enki?" Zorn asked, not entirely sure whether or not his assumption was correct.

"Reborn, yes, and with my new body comes the gift of true sight and do you know what I see?" Enki waited for a few seconds before answering his own question. "I can see that you are very much in love, even if you yourself don't see it. I can also see that it is your greatest weakness. You have angered many people Zorn, one of those people has given me everything I could have ever asked for and he asked one thing of me in return, do you care to take a guess as to what that one thing is?"

It didn't take a fool to see where this man was going. Ruto was beginning feel that things were about to get very much out of hand. She wasn't quite sure who this man was, or how he tied in to the scheme of things, but one thing was clear, she was about to witness a battle the likes of which she hadn't seen for a long time.

"Yet again you remain silent? It has been many a moon since I have had the ability to threaten someone and mean it, why must you deny me that simple joy? I guess it is of no consequence, I can at the very least still delight myself by playing with your bloodied, matted hair."

* * *

**I realize it's been a long time and that this chapter is not my best work but I ask that you overlook the not so amazing flow because there is a reason it didn't really flow right. I have been working on this chapter on and off for roughly four months and I didn't find my inspiration until I got to the end and by the time I got there I lost my "mojo". It's not the best excuse in the world but it's all I've got and I'm not going to rewrite it.**

**The Sage of Water,  
~ConGie**


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